Intelligence Science Board

Educing
Information

Interrogation: Science and Art
Foundations for the Future

Educing Information

Intelligence Science Board
Phase 1 Report

National Defense Intelligence College
PCN 3866

ISBN 1-932946-17-9

Intelligence Science Board
Study on Educing Information
Phase 1 Advisors
Robert A. Fein, Ph.D.
Chair of the Study and Member, Intelligence Science Board
Paul Lehner, Ph.D.
Senior Study Team Member, MITRE Corporation
Bryan Vossekuil
Senior Study Team Member, Counterintelligence Field Activity

Members of Government Experts Committee
on Educing Information
David Becker

Defense Intelligence Agency

John Berglund

Department of Homeland Security

Brian Boetig

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Michael Gelles, Psy.D

Naval Criminal Investigative Service

Michael Kremlacek

U.S. Army Intelligence

Robert McFadden

Counterintelligence Field Activity

C.A. Morgan III, M.D.

Intelligence Technology Innovation Center

Kenneth Rollins, Ph.D.

Joint Personnel Recovery Agency

Scott Shumate, Psy.D.

Counterintelligence Field Activity

Andre Simons

Federal Bureau of Investigation

John Wahlquist

National Defense Intelligence College

Members of Intelligence Science Board Senior
Advisory Group on Educing Information
Randall Fort
Vice President, Goldman Sachs
Dr. Paul Gray
Professor of Electrical Engineering and President Emeritus, MIT

Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg
Senior Scientist, Nuclear Threat Initiative
Philip B. Heymann
James Barr Ames Professor for Criminal Justice, Harvard University
Dr. Ernest May
Charles Warren Professor of History, Harvard University
Dr. Anthony G. Oettinger
Chairman, Program on Information Resources Policy, Harvard University
Dr. Ervin J. Rokke
President, Moravian College

About the Intelligence Science Board
Mission
The Intelligence Science Board was chartered in August 2002 and advises the
Office of the Director of National Intelligence and senior Intelligence Community
leaders on emerging scientific and technical issues of special importance to the
Intelligence Community. The mission of the Board is to provide the Intelligence
Community with outside expert advice and unconventional thinking, early notice
of advances in science and technology, insight into new applications of existing
technology, and special studies that require skills or organizational approaches
not resident within the Intelligence Community. The Board also creates
linkages between the Intelligence Community and the scientific and technical
communities.

Impact
Board members initiate studies and assessments in topic areas where they
believe that the Board’s interdisciplinary expertise and experience could benefit
the Intelligence Community. In addition, the Board responds to tasking from
the Associate Director of National Intelligence for Science and Technology
and from the heads of elements of the Intelligence Community. All ISB tasks
are mutually agreed to by the ISB and by the Associate Director of National
Intelligence for Science and Technology. The Board’s procedures for developing
and communicating its findings and advice will remain as flexible and informal as
is possible, consistent with the mission.

Membership
The Board is composed of approximately 25 members whose range of expertise
encompasses the physical and biological sciences, information technology and
communications, information policy, and the law, among others.

EDUCING
INFORMATION
Interrogation: Science and Art
Foundations for the Future
Intelligence Science Board
Phase 1 Report
ic Intel

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NDIC PRESS

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Center fo r S
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National Defense Intelligence College
Washington, DC
December 2006
The views expressed in this book are those of the authors and do not
reflect the official policy or position of the Department
of Defense, the National Foreign Intelligence Community
or the U.S. Government

The National Defense Intelligence College supports and encourages research on intelligence issues that distills lessons and improves Intelligence
Community capabilities for policy-level and operational consumers
Educing Information: Interrogation: Science and Art—Foundations for the Future,
Intelligence Science Board.
The National Defense Intelligence College is pleased to present this work of
the Intelligence Science Board on Educing Information. “Educing information”
refers to information elicitation and strategic debriefing as well as to interrogation.
Essays were prepared with the guidance of Dr. Robert Fein and other Board
advisors. Works by authors who were employees of the Department of Defense
when the essays were first created were reviewed and cleared for unrestricted
public release by the Department of Defense’s Office of Security Review. This
book has benefited from reviews by authoritative professionals in government
and academia. The College appreciates the editorial contributions made by those
reviewers, and especially the detailed comments by Margaret S. McDonald of the
Mitre Corporation. The Foreword and Commentaries included in the book were
invited by the editor and are not part of the Intelligence Science Board Report
itself.
Russell.Swenson@dia.mil, Editor and Director
Center for Strategic Intelligence Research
National Defense Intelligence College
Library of Congress Control Number
ISBN

2006932276
1-932946-17-9

Table of Contents
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
Foreword, Robert Destro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Prologue, Robert A. Fein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Commentaries, Pauletta Otis, John Wahlquist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv
About the Authors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxvii
Introduction, Robert A. Fein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Scientific Papers
1. The Costs and Benefits of Interrogation in
the Struggle Against Terrorism
Robert Coulam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2. Approaching Truth: Behavioral Science Lessons on
Educing Information from Human Sources
Randy Borum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3. Research on Detection of Deception:
What We Know vs. What We Think We Know
Gary Hazlett . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
4. Mechanical Detection of Deception: A Short Review
Kristin E. Heckman and Mark D. Happel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
5. KUBARK Counterintelligence Interrogation Review:
Observations of an Interrogator – Lessons Learned and
Avenues for Further Research
Steven M. Kleinman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
6. Custodial Interrogations: What We Know,
What We Do, and What We Can Learn from
Law Enforcement Experiences
Ariel Neuman and Daniel Salinas-Serrano . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
7. Barriers to Success: Critical Challenges in
Developing a New Educing Information Paradigm
Steven M. Kleinman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

iii

8. Negotiation Theory and Practice:
Exploring Ideas to Aid Information Eduction
Daniel L. Shapiro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
9. Negotiation Theory and Educing Information:
Practical Concepts and Tools
M. P. Rowe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
10. Options for Scientific Research on Eduction Practices
Paul Lehner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
11. Educing Information Bibliography (Annotated)
Theresa Dillon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329

iv

Acknowledgments
Many individuals and organizations contributed to Phase 1 of the Study
on Educing Information (EI). I deeply appreciate the participation and
encouragement of these experts from government, the academic community, and
other organizations.
The staff of the Study on EI, as well as numerous consultants, assisted
immensely and immeasurably in its work. Others provided specialized and
invaluable knowledge, editorial assistance, and moral and intellectual support
throughout.
The authors of the scientific papers responded to requests, tasks, and deadlines
with disciplined scholarship and grace. Staff from the NDIC Press worked
skillfully, and patiently, to turn the study report into a book.
To each and all I express my thanks.
Robert Fein

v

Foreword
Robert A. Destro*
Educing Information is a profoundly important book because it offers both
professionals and ordinary citizens a primer on the “science and art” of both
interrogation and intelligence gathering. Because this is a book written by and
for intelligence professionals, it starts exactly where one might expect it to start
– with Dr. Robert Coulam’s superb discussion of the costs and benefits of various
approaches to interrogation. For those who are (like me) unschooled in the art
and science of intelligence gathering, careful study of the table of contents is
perhaps the best way to decide which of the papers would provide the most
convenient portal through which to enter a realm that is, by the admission of
the authors themselves, both largely unexplored and enormously important to
our national security. Steven M. Kleinman’s excellent paper on the “KUBARK
Counterintelligence Interrogation Review” provided just the historical and
theoretical background I needed to feel comfortable with the other papers. This
book “works” either way.
Wherever one starts or ends this book, certain conclusions are inescapable.
The first is that there is ample room for inter- and multi-disciplinary research and
collaboration. Each of the papers included in Educing Information provides at
least one, if not many, important “Foundations for the Future.” I look forward to
participating in that process.
The second conclusion is that it is going to take a lot of hard work to convince
other disciplines that the Intelligence Community is not making the case for
interdisciplinary clean-up of what Dr. Robert Fein’s “Prologue” calls “traditional
police-state methods of extracting information from their prisoners.” Even a
cursory reading of the papers in this book points to the enormous opportunities
for research and human rights protection that will flow from a systematic, and
entirely legitimate, set of inquiries into the realm of information gathering.
I fear, however, that the authors and editors may have compounded the problem
when they decided to characterize “interrogation” as “educing information.”
Though “educing information” may sound a bit more benign than the far more
robust-sounding image created by the concept of “interrogation,” it is not nearly
benign enough to overcome the public relations problem that led to the choice
of the phrase in the first place.1 We lawyers call this process “characterization”

__________________
*
Professor of Law and Director, Interdisciplinary Program in Law & Religion, Columbus School of
Law, The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. B.A. 1972, Miami University, Oxford,
Ohio; J.D., 1975, Boalt Hall School of Law, The University of California, Berkeley. Commissioner,
United States Commission on Civil Rights, 1983-1989.
1
Editor’s Note: As pointed out by Robert Fein in the Introduction to this book, the term “Educing
Information,” although not yet in common usage, encompasses information “elicitation” and “strategic
debriefing” as well as interrogation. Robert Destro’s comments highlight the swift undercurrents that
attend the topic at hand, and that can easily enlist adversarial stratagems. Professor Destro is not
associated with the Intelligence Science Board.

vii

in some contexts, and either “categorization” or “classification” in others. The
advocate selects the characterization that seems to serve immediate purpose and
constructs the argument from there. The problem is that others will be doing
precisely the same thing – and, in this case, those “others” are likely to be the
lawyers and human rights advocates that advise the legislators who in turn control
intelligence research budgets.
Professor Kathleen Sullivan, Dean of Stanford University Law School, has
observed that, in constitutional law:
Categorization is the taxonomist’s style – a job of classification and labeling. When categorical formulas operate, all the important work in litigation
is done at the outset. Once the relevant right and mode of infringement have
been described, the outcome follows, without any explicit judicial balancing
of the claimed right against the government’s justification for the infringement. Balancing is more like grocer’s work (or Justice’s) – the judge’s job
is to place competing rights and interests on a scale and weigh them against
each other. Here the outcome is not determined at the outset, but depends on
the relative strength of a multitude of factors. These two styles have competed endlessly in contemporary constitutional law; neither has ever entirely
eclipsed the other.2
Thus, it is not enough simply to choose a benign-sounding term like
“educing.” Any lawyer or human rights advocate will understand both how and
why the re-characterization was selected, and force the original discussion of
how one “balances” the “need to know” against human rights concerns. There
is no point in hiding the fact that we are talking about “interrogation,” and, to be
honest, reasonable minds might differ on whether the term “educing” sounds all
that “benign” in the first place.
All who are interested in the work product and ethics of the Intelligence
Community should understand that the road ahead is going to be a long one. Like
many, if not most, Americans I learned what I “know” about the “interrogation of
bad guys” (both male and female) by watching prime-time television. Law school
was (and remains) even less informative with respect to such questions. Most
lawyers and judges learn the “art” (but not the “science”) of cross-examination
of a hostile witness from either a mentor or a supervisor after embarking on the
practice of law, and supplement that “training” by watching courtroom dramas
recommended by their peers. It is going to take a sustained period of intensive interdisciplinary cooperation to clean up the rather sordid images of “interrogation”
that have become the stuff of movies and prime-time television.
There is a real need for “outreach” and professional collaboration here.
Lawyers, judges, legislators, and human rights advocates know little to nothing
about either the “science or art” of intelligence gathering, but all of them know

2
Kathleen M. Sullivan, “Post-Liberal Judging: The Roles of Categorization and Balancing,” 63 U.
Colo. L. Rev. 293, 293-294 (1992).

viii

that the interrogation of adverse parties in litigation is essential to the litigation or
Congressional hearing process. We freely admit (among ourselves) that “discovery”
(our term for “educing information”) is often a grueling, time-consuming, and
expensive process, but many see absolutely nothing wrong with hiding the costs
– and the results – from the general public. We teach our law students quite a lot
about the law governing the custodial interrogation of criminal suspects, but not
too much about the theory and practice discussed in Ariel Neuman and Daniel
Salinas-Serrano’s fine paper on custodial interrogation in the law enforcement
context. We pride ourselves on our commitment to both human rights and the
preservation of rule of law, but work in a profession that decries the loss of civility
brought about by the hard-hitting (and sometimes unethical), adversarial litigators
we see every night on television.
These are your critics. They are a tough audience with quite a lot to learn
from you. Human rights advocates and civil rights litigators view themselves as
“private attorneys general” whose role is to litigate in defense of individual rights,
and they view the courts as the only branch of government capable of striking what
now-retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor called “sensible balances” between the
rights of the individual and the needs of organized society. Courts and legislatures
cannot strike those “sensible balances” without first acquiring a thorough
grounding in the “science and art” of your profession. Educing Information is a
welcome “first installment” on that effort.
And what are we to make of “public opinion”? Unfortunately, that is a
relatively easy question. Prime-time television increasingly offers up plot lines
involving the incineration of metropolitan Los Angeles by an atomic weapon or
its depopulation by an aerosol nerve toxin. The characters do not have the time to
reflect upon, much less to utilize, what real professionals know to be the “science
and art” of “educing information.” They want results. Now. The public thinks the
same way. They want, and rightly expect, precisely the kind of “protection” that
only a skilled intelligence professional can provide. Unfortunately, they have no
idea how such a person is supposed to act “in real life.”
Is there a theme here? Yes, a simple one. Prime time television is not just
entertainment. It is “adult education.” We should not be surprised when the public
(and many otherwise law-abiding lawyers) applaud when an actor threatens the
“hostile du jour” with pain or mayhem unless he or she answers a few, pointed
questions before the end of the episode. The writers craft the script using “extreme”
measures because they assume, as our own government has, that police-state
tactics studied for defensive purposes can be “reverse engineered” and morphed
into cost-effective, “offensive” measures.
Though eminently understandable, such reactions are incredibly short-sighted
and profoundly unethical. We don’t need just any answers, we need good answers.
Our health and safety, and our posterity, depend on it.
Don’t expect Educing Information to become required reading among the
Hollywood screen writer set anytime soon, but it certainly should be. All of us
could learn quite a lot.

ix

Prologue
U.S. Experience and Research in
Educing Information:
A Brief History
Robert A. Fein, Ph.D.

MIS-Y Program
In World War II, the United States military developed a secret “offensive”
program, called MIS-Y, designed to obtain intelligence from captured adversaries.
This “educing information” program (though it was not described as such at the
time) was designed to obtain intelligence from senior German officials, officers,
and scientists in U.S. custody. The prisoners were taken to a facility at Fort Hunt,
VA, specially developed for educing information. Each internee was carefully
screened to ensure that he was likely to have information critical to national
security before being sent to Fort Hunt.
Each Fort Hunt internee was paired with a trained interrogator, selected
because of his language ability, knowledge of subject matter, and perceived ability
to relate to the source. Rooms where detainees ate, slept, washed, recreated, and
talked were wired for sound. In addition, collaborators were placed in the prison
population. The German officers, scientists, and officials were monitored on
a 24-hour basis; information was also collected from them while they were in
formal interrogation sessions, while they conversed with their roommates and
“colleagues,” and at other times. The information was analyzed on an ongoing
basis, with dossiers of the internees updated regularly. Intelligence was developed
and disseminated to military commands and organizations. The MIS-Y program
ended with the conclusion of WWII.

Research on Interrogation Techniques
World events in the post-war period shifted U.S. government attention to the
techniques that other countries might apply against U.S. personnel. The rise of the
Soviet Union as a world power and the birth of the People’s Republic of China led
to widespread concern about Soviet and Chinese interrogation capacities. These
concerns were highlighted by a number of Communist show trials and the public
confessions of a few captured U.S. servicemen during the Korean War.
A national debate ensued at the conclusion of hostilities in Korea. How could
one understand U.S. servicemen who “confessed” to dropping bombs filled with
germs on civilian populations (events that did not occur)? Were these men traitors
or had they been “brainwashed” (a term popularized by Edward Hunter in 1951)?
The general U.S. public and researchers alike wondered whether the Russians
and/or the Chinese (possibly building on behavioral conditioning techniques
developed by scientists such as Ivan Pavlov) had developed scientific technologies
xi

for interrogation. What kinds of “mind control” techniques were being employed
behind the Iron and Bamboo Curtains?
Concerns about communist interrogation methods led to substantial U.S.
government research programs in the 1950s into the nature of practices utilized by
the Soviets and the Chinese. These studies were essentially “defensive” in nature.
Their goal was to learn about the interrogation behaviors of adversaries in order
to equip U.S. servicemen with needed defensive capacities.
Noted social scientists and physicians who were affiliated with the military
and the intelligence community (including Arthur Biderman, Robert J. Lifton,
Edgar Schein, Lawrence Hinkle, Jr., and Harold Wolff) conducted studies of
servicemen who had been prisoners of the Communist Chinese and examined the
experience of persons subjected to Soviet interrogations. Respected professional
organizations such as the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry sponsored
scientific meetings at which topics relating to interrogation were explored and
discussed. Articles in distinguished professional journals (such as the American
Medical Association’s Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry) described Soviet and
Chinese interrogation methods and techniques in detail. Several scholarly books
were published on interrogation, such as The Manipulation of Human Behavior
(a series of essays that explored scientific knowledge about interrogation) and
Coercive Persuasion (a study of servicemen captured by the Chinese).
The overwhelming conclusion of these studies was that the Soviets and the
Chinese were using traditional police-state methods of extracting information
from their prisoners. Hinkle and Wolff noted in 1957:
in no case is there reliable evidence that neurologists,
psychiatrists, psychologists or other scientifically trained
personnel have designed or participated in these police
procedures. There is no evidence that drugs, hypnosis or
other devices play any significant role in them. The effects
produced are understandable in terms of the methods used.
There is no reason to dignify these methods by surrounding
them with an aura of scientific mystery, or to denote them
by terms such as “menticide” or “brain washing” which
imply that they are scientifically organized techniques of
predictable effectiveness.3

3
Lawrence E. Hinkle, Jr. and Harold G. Wolff, “The Methods of Interrogation and Indoctrination
Used by the Communist State Police,” Bulletin of the NY Academy of Medicine, 33 (9): 609-610.

xii

Efforts to Improve Interrogation Practices
At the same time as researchers and scientists were studying interrogation
from a defensive perspective, officials in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
began a series of explorations about “offensive” interrogation. Throughout the
1950s and into the 1960s, the CIA sponsored studies designed to explore how
drugs (LSD, for example), sensory deprivation, and hypnosis might be used as
techniques to elicit information. Some of this work was used in developing the
KUBARK Counterintelligence Interrogation Manual, written in 1963 and publicly
released in the late 1990s. The CIA research, much of it conducted through
the MKULTRA program, became the subject of concern within the CIA, the
Intelligence Community, the Congress, and the public. Although most documents
concerning the program’s work reportedly were destroyed in 1972, Congressional
hearings in 1977 put a spotlight on the research and led to widespread criticism.
Publicity and concerns about the MKULTRA program cast a pall on efforts
to conduct systematic inquiry in areas of human intelligence gathering, including
interrogation, during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Most interrogation training in
that period, including that provided by the military, was designed to equip soldiers
(primarily young enlisted men) with a rudimentary set of skills and techniques
that would permit them to gather basic tactical information from captured Soviet
soldiers on and about the battlefield. The techniques for interrogation were
promulgated in Army Field Manuals, such as FM 34-52. The seventeen or so
authorized techniques in the Army manuals are believed to have been developed
in the period immediately following World War II.
Although the U.S. government later engaged in interrogation activities to a
limited extent in the first Gulf War and in Bosnia, there was little governmentsupported research in these areas. Additionally, there was little opportunity for
U.S. interrogators to practice and hone their skills. For example, soldiers who
were trained and certified as interrogators might complete their military service
without ever conducting an interrogation.
With the attacks of 11 September 2001, and the initiation of the Global War on
Terrorism, the Intelligence Community plunged into activities that, of necessity,
involved efforts to obtain information from persons in U.S. custody who at least
initially appeared uncooperative. At holding facilities in Afghanistan, Cuba, Iraq,
and perhaps other sites, active duty military personnel, reservists, intelligence
officers, law enforcement agents, contracted interrogators, and others worked to
glean information and create intelligence that might help prevent terrorist attacks
and contribute to national security. Since there had been little or no development
of sustained capacity for interrogation practice, training, or research within
intelligence or military communities in the post-Soviet period, many interrogators
were forced to “make it up” on the fly. This shortfall in advanced, research-based
interrogation methods at a time of intense pressure from operational commanders
to produce actionable intelligence from high-value targets may have contributed
significantly to the unfortunate cases of abuse that have recently come to light.
Perhaps in the future, EI professionals and researchers can develop knowledge
that will inform and improve both practice and policy in these critical areas of
national security.

xiii

Commentaries
Educing Information: The Right Initiative at
the Right Time by the Right People
Pauletta Otis, Ph.D.*
Revelations surrounding the interrogation and treatment of Muslim males
at Abu Ghraib in Iraq and at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba shocked the public and
provoked the collective conscience. How could this happen? What are the rules
in this “time of terror?” Do rules always apply? Whose rules? How should
the “potential and suspected” terrorist be treated? What if,… just what if, he
had information that would save lives? International terrorists, propelled by
unreasonable religious motives, and inflicting mass causalities on the innocent,
are not unprecedented in human history.
Although politicians, scholars, and theologians have been quick to condemn
harsh methods, the Intelligence Community has a need to know whether any
particular method of obtaining information actually works. Yet the scholarly
and scientific community has not systematically studied eduction for 45 years.
The present study is a good beginning toward redressing that oversight, and is
remarkable for its honesty, clarity, and objectivity.
This publication does not specifically address ethical, moral, religious, or
legal questions, but instead focuses on “What works?” Dr. Robert Coulam clearly
enumerates incentives for “getting it right”: upholding ethical concerns and the
rule of law, increasing international support, reducing the danger to troops and
others at risk of capture, avoiding legal problems for U.S. troops and officials,
maintaining U.S. leadership on human rights, avoiding the creation of more
enemies, and maintaining the integrity of the military. The research reported in
the book comes across as focused and disciplined. It concentrates on the problem
of educing information from human sources held in prison or other confined
situations. It does not address “field interrogation.” Field interrogations that
depend on swift movement of both military units and prisoners are not well
documented. The evidence we do have about field interrogation is anecdotal and
not subject to scientific investigation and validation.

*
Pauletta Otis, Ph.D. has been a Faculty Member at the National Defense Intelligence College and
now works with the U.S. Marine Corps’ Center for Advanced Operational Cultural Learning. As both
scholar and citizen, Dr. Otis has focused on the use of military force to prevent systematic violations
of human rights during wartime, including the treatment of prisoners of war, or detainees, under jus ad
bellum and jus en bello conditions. Editors Note: Dr. Otis’s remarks review the historical use of torture
and the infliction of pain by the politically powerful to gain information from the weak, putting into
greater eduction the value of principles and procedures that now guide U.S. practices in information
“eduction,” and reinforcing the need for systematic research in the field. Dr. Otis is not associated with
the Intelligence Science Board.

xv

Previous literature reflects three historical ways in which individuals
and populations with little power are made to interact with those who are in
power, where those in power have as their purpose the control or acquisition of
information. The common element has been “pain”: (1) pain used as punishment,
(2) pain used for religious or ideological confession, and (3) pain used to elicit
“truthful” information and/or intelligence.
Pain administered publicly as punishment has been used for its demonstration
effect: It is designed to deter opposition, control populations, and display the power
of the government, or of rulers. Individuals have been punished to deter others from
proscribed acts; entire groups have been executed in painful, public ways in order
to maintain control over empires. Of course, the effect of such a public spectacle
has depended on the character of the viewing audience. The public might find it
simply fascinating. Some well-known examples include Aztec flaying, Roman
circuses, group beheadings by Genghis Khan, and public tortures known to the
Hindu dynasties in early India. It is said that Nero enjoyed watching people being
thrown off the city walls; the Nazis took pictures of their victims for later viewing;
and drawing and quartering as well as hanging in medieval England were accepted
public spectacle. Most recently and instructively, the number of people who tried
to access pictures of Abu Ghraib prisoner mistreatment numbered in the millions
within 48 hours after they were posted.4 Evidently, public fascination with the
infliction of pain on others is not merely an historical phenomenon.
The second focus of literature is on the use of pain to elicit confession.
Between the 12th and 14th centuries, punishment was given a religious quality by
associating it with purification before a Supreme Being, or God.5 The individuals
inflicting pain were only instruments in the hands of the Almighty, performing a
service for the targeted individual. It was reasoned that if the tortured individual
suffered sufficiently on this earth, he would not have to undergo the sufferings
of eternal damnation. The purification of each individual helped society in turn
by exorcising the evil from within it – the cancer could not spread. Infliction of
physical pain was rationalized, justified, and blessed by the more powerful in a
society and even by God Himself.
The use of pain to elicit truth in these centuries and those to follow was
focused on truth as an ideological belief system congruent with church and
political authority. The church was considered to have failed if the heretic refused
to confess and recant. Only after the religious confession and ruling might the
accused be turned over to the political/secular government for punishment and
public execution, called “releasing” the prisoner to (non-ecclesiastical) authority.
The secular authorities then applied punishment – ranging from public humiliation

4
Luc Boltanski, Distant Suffering, trans. Graham Burchell (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University
Press, 1999) provides insight into why people choose to watch the sufferings of others.
5
Purification through self-flagellation, fasting, and denial of bodily needs has been accepted
practice in the Middle East for time immemorial. The concept was known from India to Spain, and
was manifested in traditional, indigenous religions as well as in Islam, Christianity, and Judaism

xvi

to public execution. This saved the poor soul from eternal damnation and only
incidentally reinforced the power of religious and secular authorities.6
The 13th century saw the proliferation of “how to” manuals for religious
persons to help illuminate motives and circumstances, and to aid in evaluating the
magnitude of an offense, as well as how to overcome the obstacles of fear, shame,
presumption, despair, and denial in order to elicit a good confession. The earliest
manual, Processus inquisitionis (1248-49), was relatively simple, but the manuals
grew in size, complexity and sophistication. Nicholas Eymerich, Inquisitor
General of Aragon (1350s), enumerates various ruses the inquisitor can use to
elicit the truth. These approaches reappear in the KUBARK Manual (1963).
In addition, specific guidance regarding “evasive discourse” or how to tell
when suspects are not telling the truth, is found in the 13th-century manuals.
Nicholas Eymerich wrote of “ten ways in which heretics seek to hide their errors.”
They are: equivocation, adding a condition to the original question, redirecting
questions, feigned astonishment, twisting the meaning of words, changing the
subject, self-justification, feigned illness, feigning stupidity or madness, and
the use of sanctity or the “holier than thou” method.7 Eymerich addresses the
nature of intimidation and of foot-dragging, of tool-breaking and petty sabotage,
of playing one off against another; the differences between men and women,
social connections, and occupations, as well as how to overcome “evasion and
deception.”
Although these three approaches to the control or acquisition of information
have developed sequentially, they are often overlapping, and frequently congruent.
To some extent, the U.S. Intelligence Community is “stuck” with this history.
PURPOSE
PUNISHMENT

Group
repression

CONFESSION Cleanse;define

in-group and

out-group
TRUTH

Information,
Intelligence
to prevent
further
violence

AUTHORITY

VENUE

Empire

Public

Church
and
state
State

TECHNIQUE

RESULT

EDUCTOR

Physical
brutality
Private, Mental
secret, and
then
physical
public

Fear to
Autocrat
elicit obedience
Promote loyalty Zealot
and group
cohesion

Secret

Useful and
timely
information

Mental

Professional
interrogator

Evolution of Information Elicitation by Authorities in the Common Era
Source: Compiled by author.
6
Maureen Flynn, “Mimesis of the Last Judgment: the Spanish auto de fe,” Sixteenth Century
Journal 22 (2), (Summer 1991): 281-297
7
Found in James V. Given, Inquisition and Medieval Society: Power, Discipline and Resistance in
Languedoc (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1997).

xvii

The pre-history of the United States includes well-known instances of the use
of pain by officialdom against those less powerful. The Salem witchcraft trials
used water and burning to elicit confession. The trials ended only when they were
deemed ineffective and counterproductive. The documents that brought the U.S.
into being were conceived with awareness of the European history noted above,
and were a product of learning from it. The Founders’ clear purpose was to protect
human dignity by restraining government from the abuse of power.
As public support for church-related governance diminished in the 19th and
20th centuries in favor of codified public law, the rules about use of pain to elicit
information were consistently tightened to protect individual rights and liberties
within the domestic law enforcement community. However, the needs of the U.S.
military and Intelligence Community have been different from those of domestic
law enforcement, and the history of the use of pain to elicit information and
intelligence is yet to be written. Suffice to say, manuals and laws have suggested
ways of educing information and have also provided information to teach how to
resist mental and physical pressure.
If there was any case whereby harsh interrogation practices would seem
justified, it may have been World War II. The world was aware of the atrocities
of the Nazi regime and “eye for an eye” seemed to be the rule of the day. The
actual record is somewhat surprising: The Western world was so repulsed by
the Nazi spectacle that the “high ground” seemed the safest. In fact, the most
successful British interrogator was reputedly “Old Tin Eye,” Lieutenant Colonel
Robert Stephens at Camp 020, Latchmere House at Ham, on the edge of London.
According to his biographer, Alan Judd, his success was a result of thorough
preparation by the interrogators, linguistic fluency, and the right mixture of firmness
in questioning and sympathy in handling. Violence of any sort was forbidden. The
interrogators who worked at Camp 020 knew the difference between “talking”
and “truth.” 8
After World War II, the domestic law enforcement community and the U.S.
military community took slightly differing views on educing information. FBI and
state and local officials were pressured to abide by the rule of law and encouraged
to apply two principles: (1) that an individual is innocent until proven guilty and
(2) that civil rights are inherent in Constitutional Law. The “enemy within” was to
be interrogated as a citizen and therefore had certain rights. The “enemy without”–
the Communist threat – presented a different picture. The political turbulence of
the 1950s produced new efforts at finding out about the Communists, discovering
how to resist brainwashing, and investigating technological and chemical
shortcuts in interrogation. The FBI and the CIA handled these issues and produced
a good number of reports, among which was the KUBARK Manual. However,
for the Department of Defense it was still something of a puzzle as to whether
“foreigners,” especially those found in combat areas, were to be accorded legal
rights and due process. The international community and DOD developed a set
8
Oliver Hoare, Camp 020: MI5 and the Nazi Spies: The Official History of MI5’s Wartime
Interrogation Centre (Richmond, Surrey, UK: Public Record Office, 2000).

xviii

of principles and rules to guide the treatment of enemies that were quite specific.
The bottom line was that domestic law enforcement developed one set of rules
and guidelines; those who dealt with military security were left with only the Law
of Armed Combat, which is based on rules pertaining to conventional warfare and
therefore difficult to apply to genocide, international crime, and/or terrorism.
Chris Mackey and Greg Miller, in The Interrogators: Inside the Secret War
Against Al Queda, discuss the development of U.S. intelligence and interrogation
capabilities during and after World War II. “In July 1940, a month after German
troops entered Paris, the army issued its first field manual on interrogation, or more
specifically, on the “examination of enemy personnel, repatriates, documents and
material.” The 28-page manual described and warned interrogators to observe
the Geneva Conventions’ ban on coercion. There was no mention of anything
resembling the distinct approaches outlined in today’s interrogation manuals.
Indeed, about the only guidance it offered on method was that “a cigarette or a
cup of coffee will frequently elicit more accurate and important information than
threats.” 9 In 1942, the U.S. Army opened its first centralized intelligence training
center at Camp Ritchie, Maryland; its first priority was to train interrogators and
the students learned personality analysis, ways of influencing people and making
friends (the Dale Carnegie approach applied to war prisoners.)
Since the early 1950s, the U.S. military has trained professional interrogators
and taught specific ways of “educing” information from unwilling sources. It
was assumed that the information needed was of a military-engagement type
– assuming “conventional warfare” (although realizing that Vietnam clearly falls
out of this category). The methods used were a combination of those developed
from the oral histories of professional interrogators from World War II, the Korean
Conflict, and Vietnam. The other component was the list of ways of conducting
interrogation as described in KUBARK and mostly Army training documents
such as Field Manual 34-52 (1992). Some of the training, especially at SERE
(Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape) schools, was highly creative and
designed to help soldiers resist interrogation and torture. The infamous “dog on
a leash” tactic was ostensibly created to show that “nothing can take away your
dignity.”
This background brings us to the present work on Educing Information,
Interrogation: Science and Art, which has four chapters devoted to an overview
and analysis of U.S. interrogators, techniques, and procedures since World War II.
The authors review what we think we know, yet wonder about what we really do
not know. Further, the authors note that although some interrogators are formally
trained in the techniques, there is no evidence that those techniques actually do
what they are supposed to do.
Chapters 5 and 6 of this book describe how current eduction is conducted
and note that although there is no valid scientific research to back the conclusion,

9
Chris Mackey and Greg Miller, The Interrogators: Inside the Secret War Against Al Queda (New
York: Little, Brown and Company, 2004), 27.

xix

most professionals believe that pain, coercion, and threats are counterproductive
to the elicitation of good information. The authors cite a number of psychological
and behavioral studies to buttress the argument, but are forced to return to the
statement: “more research is necessary.”
Chapter 6 addresses “Custodial Interrogations: What We Know, What We
Do, and What We Can Learn from Law Enforcement Experiences.” It is well
written but disillusioning. If the Intelligence Community expects to learn what
law enforcement officials do actually know and have scientific evidence for, they
are in for disappointment. The interrogation processes as depicted on the TV
program Law and Order and the like, and that there work clearly and cleanly,
are a fantasy. The authors clearly state, as do others, that there is no particular
evidence that supports current interrogation (eduction) techniques and that “more
research is necessary.”
Chapters 7 through 10 provide a number of good suggestions about how to
go about doing research and finding out “what works.” A promising suggestion
is to study eduction as a negotiation process with wins, losses, and tradeoffs for
each party. This model may prove fruitful – but the authors of this report also
repeatedly point out that more research is necessary.
The importance of this book and its topic are hard to overstate: Our interests
in Iraq and Afghanistan will be enhanced by its spurring us on to better ways
of educing information; developments following from this baseline document
can give us hope that relationships with allies and friends will be stabilized; the
American public will be satisfied that its core values are supported internationally;
the concerns of the U.S. Congress will be assuaged; and bureaucratic infighting
will be dampened by reliable research. Just as important is the certification by the
authors of this volume that eduction of information aims for truth and justice; we
do not intend to exert arbitrary power over others. The United States will be able
to do the “right thing for the right reason at the right time.”
Notably, things are already in motion to discover “better ways of doing
business.” The U.S. Army has a new field manual (FM 2-22.3) to guide the full
range of human intelligence collection operations. The Army also recently stood
up the 201st Military Intelligence Battalion at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. It is the
first of four interrogation battalions to be created and will specialize in detainee
screening and interrogation. It is to be hoped that the Army will make Educing
Information required reading.
The topic of educing information has significant historical baggage, but it also
continues to carry national and global importance. The Intelligence Community is
well served by this report. When the Intelligence Community, acting through its
individual practitioners who know and understand ground truth, who appreciate the
consequences of getting it wrong, and who have respect for the American public,
notes and internalizes a document like this, it deserves respect and admiration.
Some interrogators may take the message of this book as personal criticism and
bastions of bureaucracy may be threatened, but the realm of global security will
be better for the clear thinking and courageous writing.

xx

Educing Information: Interrogation—
Science and Art
John A. Wahlquist*
“The goal of the interrogation process is to develop the truth.”10 This simple
statement captures the spirit that animates Educing Information: Interrogation:
Science and Art. The “truth” awaiting development in this case is what we think we
know and what we really know about educing information (EI), a politically neutral
term that encompasses often highly controversial human intelligence collection
activities such as interrogation, strategic debriefing, and elicitation. In his article,
“Approaching Truth: Behavioral Science Lessons on Educing Information from
Human Sources,” Dr. Randy Borum explains: “Almost no empirical studies in the
social and behavioral sciences directly address the effectiveness of interrogation
in general practice, or of specific techniques in generating accurate and useful
information from otherwise uncooperative persons (emphasis in the original).”
As a practitioner and student of educing information, I share Dr. Borum’s
surprise and concern over the lack of rigorous scientific examination of educing
information fundamentals. What this means is that the effectiveness of existing
interrogation techniques has been accepted without sufficient scrutiny. Under these
circumstances, any resulting ineffectiveness is attributed to improper execution of
the techniques rather than inherent flaws in the techniques themselves. Similarly,
detecting deception, a key ingredient in evaluating the usefulness of information
obtained through interrogation, is popularly and even professionally considered
simply the natural result of properly applying the “right” techniques. While many
such techniques apparently have an anecdotal basis, most have not been subjected
to recent and thorough scientific analysis. In the worst case some actually may
be counterproductive to uncovering the truth. It is to highlight these issues, at a
time when information obtained from human sources is increasingly important
to protecting vital national security interests, that the Intelligence Science Board
sponsored its educing information study.
Despite a dearth of recent systematic studies on the theory and practice of
interrogation, historical accounts, primarily anecdotal, have dealt with this issue
in considerable detail. Some of the best documented are “how-to” interrogation

________________
*
Mr. John A. Wahlquist is a Faculty Member at the National Defense Intelligence College and a
member of the Government Experts Committee for the Intelligence Science Board Study on Educing
Information. As a member of the Iraq Survey Group in Baghdad (2004-2005), he headed Team
Huwaysh, consisting of interrogator-debriefers and subject matter experts, dedicated to debriefing
Iraqi detainee ‘Abd-al-Tawab Al Mullah Huwaysh, Saddam Husayn’s former fourth-ranking Deputy
Prime Minister and Minister of Military Industrialization. Previously Mr. Wahlquist served as Defense
Attaché to Oman and Deputy Director of Intelligence at U.S. Central Command. Editor’s Note: Mr.
Wahlquist’s comments are not necessarily those of the Intelligence Science Board which he supported
as a member of the Government Experts Committee.
10
John E. Reid and Associates, “Critics Corner: Defending the Reid Technique of Interrogation,” at
http://www.reid.com/educational_info/critictechniquedefend.html, accessed 18 August 2006.

xxi

manuals compiled by 13th- century Franciscan and Dominican friars and designed
to assist parish priests in obtaining truthful and complete confessions from lay
church members. These confession handbooks “explained how to guide the
penitent through his or her examination of conscience, how to illuminate motives
and circumstances, and thus how to evaluate the magnitude of an offense, and
how to overcome obstacles…to a good confession.”11
The methods promoted in the handbooks, when refined by Roman Catholic
inquisitors, evolved into more complicated and sophisticated techniques for
interrogating suspected heretics. For example, the Practica inquisitionis heretice
pravitatis, written in 1323 by Bernard Gui, inquisitor of Toulouse, explains that
interrogation methods used must be linked to the types of heresy encountered
and then “offers suggestions on the best strategy to pursue in interrogating”
members of six specific heretical sects.12 A later inquisitor, Nicholas Eymerich of
Aragon, likely drawing on Gui’s account, “describes [in his treatise Directorium
inquisitorum] ten ways in which heretics try to hide their beliefs” followed by
a detailed set of interrogation “ruses the inquisitor can use to elicit the truth.”
Anticipating modern-day interrogation guides such as CIA’s “KUBARK
Counterintelligence Interrogation” manual and U.S. Army Field Manual 34-52,
Eymerich suggests the interrogator use “manipulative and deceptive behavior”
to obtain a confession.13 Another text, De inquisitione hereticorum, takes a more
direct approach, recommending that “reluctant witnesses might be persuaded to
confess by threatening them with death or telling them that other witnesses had
already implicated them.” 14
Not surprisingly, the inquisitors also believed that imprisonment, often for
long periods under cruel conditions including solitary confinement, was likely
their most effective interrogation technique, surpassing the utility of torture.
Bernard Gui described “imprisonment as an integral component of the inquisitor’s
interrogation strategy…. [C]oupled if necessary, with hunger, shackles, and
torture…[it] could…loosen the tongues of even the most obdurate.”15 In practice,
such methods may have posed a dilemma for Gui and his fellow inquisitors, who
zealously sought truthful confessions not only to root out heresy itself but also
to save the immortal souls of the heretics – a dilemma over how to ensure the
veracity of forced confessions. An account of the conditions in one notorious 13th
century inquisitorial prison and their impact on the “truth” paints a grim picture:
Some of these cells are dark and airless, so that those lodged
there cannot tell if it is day or night…. In other cells there are
kept miserable wretches laden with shackles…. These cannot
11
Quotation from Jean Delumeau, Sin and Fear: The Emergence of a Western Guilt Culture,
13th-18th Centuries, translated by Eric Nicholson (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1990), 199-200, as
presented in James B. Given, Inquisition and Medieval Society: Power, Discipline, & Resistance in
Languedoc (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1997), 45.
12
Given, 46.
13
Given, 47.
14
Given, 45.
15
Given, 54.

xxii

move, but defecate and urinate on themselves. Nor can they
lie down except on the frigid ground…. And thus coerced they
say that what is false is true, choosing to die once rather than
to endure more torture. As a result of these false and coerced
confessions not only do those making confessions perish, but
so do the innocent people named by them…. [M]any of those
who are newly cited to appear [before the inquisitors], hearing
of the torments and trials of those who are detained…assert that
what is false is true; in which assertions they accuse not only
themselves but other innocent people, that they may avoid the
above mentioned pains…. Those who thus confess afterward
reveal to their close friends that those things that they said to the
inquisitors are not true, but rather false, and they confessed out
of imminent danger. 16
Sadly, the conditions described above, although 800 years in the past, are
direct antecedents of conditions experienced by Iraqi prisoners confined in Abu
Ghraib prison during 2003 and 2004, and perhaps by other prisoners in U.S.
custody. The results of interrogations conducted under these conditions were just
as unreliable as those in the 13th century. Why, in the 21st century, with all our
accumulated knowledge about how human beings think and interact and function,
are we still repeating costly medieval mistakes? “The problem,” according to Dr.
Robert Coulam, “is that…there is little systematic knowledge available to tell
us ‘what works’ in interrogation. We do not know what methods or processes
of interrogation best protect the nation’s security (emphasis in the original).” In
essence, this is why Educing Information: Interrogation: Science and Art in is so
important and timely. Its conclusions demonstrate that the entire field of educing
information needs critical reexamination; there are no easy answers or generic
solutions when it comes to understanding these highly complex behaviors.
Especially pertinent, since it confounds conventional wisdom and much of
historical practice, is Dr. Borum’s finding that “There is little or no research to
indicate whether [coercive] techniques succeed…. [B]ut the preponderance of
reports seems to weigh against their effectiveness…. Psychological theory…and
related research suggest that coercion or pressure can actually increase a source’s
resistance and determination not to comply (emphasis in the original).” Regarding
behavioral indicators of veracity, Dr. Gary Hazlett concludes “We do not really
know what we think we know. Overall, knowledge of behavioral indicators that
might assist in the detection of deception is very limited (emphasis in the original).”
Wide-ranging mechanical and chemical approaches to educing information, once
thought to be a promising panacea, have not lived up to earlier expectations. Over
seventy years after the introduction of the so-called “lie-detector,” Drs. Kristin
Heckman and Mark Happel contend that “despite the polygraph’s shortcomings,
there is currently no viable technical alternative to polygraphy.”

16
Given, 64, extracted from Jean-Marie Vidal, Un Inquisiteur jugé par ses “victimes”: Jean Galand
et les Carcassonnais (1285-1286) (Paris, 1903).

xxiii

Study of historical documents, such as CIA’s infamous “KUBARK”
manual, written in 1963 and declassified in 1997, provides examples of both
the pitfalls of past thinking and practices, as well as important insights into the
relationship between interrogator and subject. Drawing on his detailed review of
the “KUBARK” manual and his extensive experience as an interrogator, Steven
Kleinman explains that “interrogation is defined both by its intensely interpersonal
nature and intractably shaped by the unique personalities of the interrogator and
the source…. [E]ach interrogation is unique and therefore one must be cautious
in trying to apply a strategic template that would prove effective in each case.”
Likewise, the lengthy comparative study of interrogation in law enforcement,
conducted by Ariel Neuman and Daniel Salinas-Serrano, notes that “all agencies
underscored the general caution that no single interrogation technique works
with every suspect, and indeed that every suspect is different.” In practice,
however, Neuman and Salinas-Serrano found that law enforcement interrogation
techniques and training “takes a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach and fails…to adapt
the techniques to differences in age, ethnicity, or culture of the suspect.” Similarly,
law enforcement interrogators are not necessarily specially selected and trained
for that role. Rather, interrogation is viewed as one of several general skills in
which every police investigator is expected to be competent. Lastly, although law
enforcement personnel “heavily emphasize rapport-building as the main tool for
interrogators, it appears,” Neuman and Salinas-Serrano assert, “that without some
underlying fear interrogations will rarely succeed (emphasis added).”
According to Dr. Paul Lehner, “Experience and lessons learned offer a
necessary, but insufficient, basis for determining the effectiveness of eduction
practices. A program of scientific research on eduction practices is both
necessary and highly feasible.” The Educing Information anthology offers some
provocative alternatives for rethinking the art and science of educing information
and subjecting eduction practices to systematic evaluation. In separate articles,
Drs. Daniel Shapiro and M.P. Rowe recommend the use of negotiation theory
to tailor alternative interrogation strategies and guide empirical research on the
relationship between interrogators and sources. The goal, Dr. Rowe suggests,
“would be not just to evaluate tactics ‘today,’ or in a single time period, but for
continuous improvement of EI (emphasis added).”
A key consideration in moving to what Steven Kleinman calls the “third
generation of doctrine and practice for educing information (emphasis in the
original),” is overcoming three barriers to success – linguistic and cultural, scientific
and technical, and interpersonal and intrapersonal. History, Kleinman argues, is an
appropriate guide to developing a future strategy. In the latter years of World War
II, first generation approaches to educing information that depended primarily on
physical force (but were of marginal value in supplying useful information) gave
way among Allied and Axis interrogators alike to a more sophisticated second
generation strategy, “a systematic, outcome-oriented approach to interrogation
that relied far more on finesse than on force.” However, with the onset of the Cold
War, the focus in the United States changed to developing defensive strategies
to help service members counteract coercive interrogation methods encountered

xxiv

in Korea and Vietnam. Important lessons learned about the usefulness of noncoercive, “strategic interrogation” techniques were forgotten. Today, Kleinman
maintains, “a considerable portion of ‘what we know’ about interrogation–
including approach methodology, the detection of deception, and reading
body language – is…largely unsubstantiated….adulterated by the principles of
coercive interrogation drawn from studies of Communist methodologies.” As a
result, “evidence of the employment of coercive methods by U.S. interrogators
has appeared with alarming frequency.”
The challenge is to make constructive use of both the positive and negative
aspects of our historical and practical legacy and to supplement it with meticulous
analysis of educing information data using a variety of scientific disciplines and
conceptual frameworks. As Dr. Lehner explains, “Information gleaned from field
experience constitutes a critical source of knowledge, and without question many
of the lessons learned from such experiences are valid. But, equally without
question, many are invalid. Which is which? Only objective, scientific research
can help to distinguish between them.” Pursuing and discovering “truth” is the
central message of Educing Information: Interrogation: Science and Art. It is
obvious from the hugely damaging, worldwide impact of the images from Abu
Ghraib, and widespread allegations about abuses elsewhere, that U.S. educing
information practices are ripe for review. Failure to act now risks not just the
lives of prisoners and detainees, the success of coalition operations in Iraq and
Afghanistan and the war on terror, or even our country’s broader national security
interests. Hanging in the balance is our very identity as a nation – the heart and
soul of the United States and the values of life, liberty, and justice that American
service members are daily fighting and dying to preserve. Clearly, we must
persevere in this endeavor to find the truth.

xxv

About the Authors
Robert Fein is a forensic psychologist who specializes in threat assessment
and the prevention of targeted violence. Since 2001, he has worked with
various entities in the Intelligence Community on questions concerning risk
assessment, roles of psychologists in the IC, and educing information. He is a
member of the Intelligence Science Board, where he chairs the ISB Study on
Educing Information. He is a director of the National Violence Prevention and
Study Center and a consultant to the Directorate for Behavioral Sciences of the
Department of Defense Counterintelligence Field Activity (CIFA). He also holds
appointments at the Harvard Medical School and the University of Massachusetts
Medical School.
Dr. Fein has spent the last thirty years working to understand and prevent
targeted violence. He has conducted forensic mental health evaluations of several
thousand violent offenders, has testified in state and federal courts on over 1,000
occasions on questions of “dangerousness,” and has consulted on many hundreds
of cases of potential workplace violence. He worked with the U.S. Secret Service
for more than twenty years, and co-directed two major Secret Service operational
studies of targeted violence: one on assassination; the other on school attacks. Dr.
Fein received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1974 in Clinical Psychology
and Public Practice. He received the American Academy of Forensic Psychology’s
Award for Distinguished Career Contributions to Forensic Psychology for 2003.
rfeinm@yahoo.com
Robert F. Coulam, Ph.D., J.D., is Research Professor at the Simmons
School for Health Studies in Boston. He is a policy analyst and lawyer who has
been an academic and researcher for almost 30 years. His recent work focuses on
interrogation and terrorism, with particular concern for legal and administrative
oversight of interrogation, and how the U.S. and other countries select, organize,
train, and manage interrogators. He also performs research using complex data and
econometric methods to evaluate policy and operational problems in Medicare,
Medicaid, and other health programs. In an earlier area of work, he wrote books
and articles on problems of weapons acquisition and military command and
control. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School
of Government and his law degree from Harvard Law School. coulam@simmons.
edu.
Dr. Randy Borum is a Behavioral Science Consultant on counterintelligence
and national security issues. He regularly teaches and consults with law
enforcement agencies, the Intelligence Community, and the Department of
Defense (DOD). As an Associate Professor at the University of South Florida,
he has taught courses on Terrorism, Custodial Interrogation, Intelligence Analysis,
and Criminal Psychology and is author/ co-author of more than 100 publications.
In addition to having served as a sworn police officer for municipal departments
in Maryland and Florida for more than five years, he has been an instructor
with the U.S. Department of Justice’s State and Local Anti-Terrorism Training

xxvii

(SLATT) Program. Dr. Borum is a Board-Certified Forensic Psychologist who
has worked for with the U.S. Secret Service for more than a decade helping to
develop, refine and study behavior-based protocols for threat assessment and
protective intelligence, and he also serves on the Forensic Psychology Advisory
Board for the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit. He recently served as the Principal
Investigator on the “Psychology of Terrorism” initiative for an agency in the U.S.
Intelligence Community, and now serves on the United Nations’ Roster of Experts
in Terrorism. borum@fmhi.usf.edu.
Dr. Gary Hazlett has over 15 years of experience working as a psychologist
with U.S. Army elements, primarily with Special Forces and Special Operations
command units. He has conducted assessment and selection of personnel,
leadership development, intelligence acquisition, and human performance
research services for other government and DOD agencies to include the U.S.
Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School. Dr. Hazlett has
conducted psychological assessments for the Special Forces candidacy program,
components of the Adaptive Thinking/Leadership Development Program, and
other SF leadership development programs. He has served and continues to
serve on several national level panels on special applications of psychology in
governmental organizations and the detection of deception. During the last eight
years, Dr. Hazlett has been a principal investigator in research on the impact of
stress on human performance and cognition, the impact of stress on biological
systems, stress resilience, and enhanced methodologies for source validation in
interrogation. Dr. Hazlett’s military experience includes tours of duty in the first
Persian Gulf War and in Afghanistan, where he worked directly as a consultant to
intelligence operations. woodardcodyconsulting@yahoo.com.
Dr. Mark Happel is the Neuroscience Thrust Lead in The MITRE
Corporation’s Emerging Technology Office. Currently, he is studying the neural
basis of deception using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) in collaboration with the Center for
Functional and Molecular Imaging at the Georgetown University Medical Center.
He also holds an appointment as an Associate Professorial Lecturer at the George
Washington University, where he teaches courses in machine learning. mhappel@
mitre.org.
Dr. Kristin E. Heckman received her D.Sc. in computer science
with a concentration in machine intelligence and cognition, and minors in
neuropsychology and developmental psychology, from The George Washington
University in 2004. She is currently a Lead Artificial Intelligence Engineer at
The MITRE Corporation, working in support of the Intelligence Community to
develop a science of deception. Dr. Heckman also holds an appointment as an
Assistant Professorial Lecturer at The George Washington University, where she
teaches courses in computer science and artificial intelligence. kheckman@mitre.
org.
Colonel Steven M. Kleinman, USAFR, serves as the Reserve Senior
Intelligence Officer and Mobilization Augmentee to the Director, Intelligence,

xxviii

Surveillance, and Reconnaissance, HQ Air Force Special Operations Command.
Col Kleinman formerly served as Director, Air Force Combat Interrogation
Course and as DOD Senior Intelligence Officer for Special Survival Training.
A graduate of the Joint Military Intelligence College, he received a Master of
Science of Strategic Intelligence in August 2002. He is an independent contractor
for the MITRE Corporation, where he has worked in support of the Intelligence
Science Board’s Study on Educing Information. compass1@att.net.
Ariel Neuman currently works as an attorney in Los Angeles. He graduated
from Columbia University in 2001, where he majored in political science and
served as president of the student body. In 2005, he graduated magna cum laude
from Harvard Law School. He is looking forward to a career in public service.
ariel.neuman@post.harvard.edu.
A native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Daniel Salinas-Serrano is an attorney
admitted to practice in the State of Florida and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
He graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University in 2001, where he
majored in international relations. In 2005, he obtained a Juris Doctor degree from
Harvard Law School. An avid boater, Daniel looks forward to a long career in the
law and public service. dsalinasserrano@gmail.com.
Daniel L. Shapiro, Ph.D., Associate Director of the Harvard Negotiation
Project, is on the faculty at Harvard Law School and in the psychiatry department
at Harvard Medical School/McLean Hospital. He founded and directs the Harvard
International Negotiation Initiative (INI), which focuses on the psychology of
human security. He has been on the faculty at the Sloan School of Management,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and teaches negotiation to corporate
executives and senior government officials. He has extensive international
experience, including training Serbian members of Parliament, Middle East
negotiators, Macedonian politicians, and U.S. officials. During the Bosnian
War, he conducted conflict management training in Croatia and Serbia. Through
funding from the Soros Foundation, he developed a conflict management program
that now reaches one million people across twenty-five countries. Along with
Roger Fisher (co-author of Getting to YES) Shapiro wrote Beyond Reason:
Using Emotions as You Negotiate, which has appeared on numerous bestseller
lists. d_shap@yahoo.com.
M.P. Rowe, Ph.D., has for two decades been Adjunct Professor of Negotiation
and Conflict Management at the Sloan School of Management. Her teaching
and research have emphasized “intangible” aspects of negotiation as well as
the traditional “tangibles.” She has elaborated on sources of power for people
in negotiations who are traditionally seen “not to have any power.” Rowe has
been particularly interested in negotiations between individuals where an overt or
covert interest of one party is to injure or seek revenge against another party, as
distinguished from the more common case of individuals’ negotiating over goods
and services. Her recent articles deal with the importance of a systems approach
to conflict management as distinguished from handling individual disputes and
encounters. Her academic work has derived in part from nearly 35 years as

xxix

an organizational ombudsman, where in dealing with hundreds of conflicts a
year, she has had occasion to interview some thousands of people.
mr.negot@yahoo.com.
Dr. Paul Lehner is currently a Consulting Scientist at the Center for Integrated
Intelligence Systems in The MITRE Corporation. His research and work are
focused on supporting judgment and decisionmaking across a broad spectrum of
intelligence problems; including bio-surveillance, all-source analysis, technical
data analysis and counter-deception analysis. Previously within MITRE, Dr.
Lehner was the Chief Engineer of the Center for Enterprise Modernization (19992001) and the Chief Scientist of the Information Systems and Technology Division
(1996 – 1999). Prior to joining MITRE, Dr. Lehner was an Associate Professor of
Systems Engineering at George Mason University (1987 – 1996) and the Technical
Director of the Decision Systems group at PAR Technology Corporation (1982
– 1986). Dr. Lehner has a Ph.D. in Mathematical Psychology and Masters in
both Mathematics and Psychology from the University of Michigan.
plehner@mitre.org.
An expert in online searching, MITRE Senior Information Analyst
Theresa M. Dillon provides research and analytic support to engineers working
for Defense Department and Intelligence Community sponsors. Ms. Dillon’s
work focuses on research in the domains of systems engineering, information
technology, electronics, business, and intelligence. She also provides internal
classroom training on Web-enabled literature databases and Internet searching.
Ms. Dillon received her master of science degree in library science at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her undergraduate degree from
Tufts University. tdillon@mitre.org.

xxx

INTRODUCTION
Intelligence Science Board Study on
Educing Information
Phase 1 Report
Robert A. Fein, Ph.D.
June 2006

Study Background
Concerns about recent U.S. interrogation activities, subsequent investigations,
and the efficacy of contemporary tactics, techniques, and procedures have led
the Intelligence Science Board (ISB) to explore the current state of scientific
knowledge regarding interrogation and related forms of human intelligence
gathering. In September 2004 the ISB initiated a study on Educing Information
(EI) to address these questions and to take the first steps toward developing the
next generation of EI. The study is sponsored by the Defense Intelligence Agency
(DIA), the Intelligence Technology Innovation Center (ITIC), and the Defense
Department’s Counterintelligence Field Activity (CIFA).
The study on Educing Information began with several premises:
1.

For the foreseeable future, the U.S. government will need to obtain
information from sources under U.S. control who are thought to possess
information critical to national security and who present varying degrees
of cooperativeness;

2.

U.S. efforts to procure information from uncooperative sources will
be most effective if they are based on sound knowledge of social and
behavioral science; and

3.

There are major overt and hidden costs to getting EI efforts “wrong” and
tangible benefits to national security to getting them “right.”

Terminology
The study deliberately chose to use the term “educing information,” rather than
“interrogation,” to describe the focus of its activities. The term “educe,” which
means “to draw out or bring out,” seems more accurate and useful in this context

1

than “interrogate,” which increasingly means different things to different people
and has highly negative connotations for the general public.1
From a technical perspective, the study team’s definition of EI encompasses
“elicitation” (engaging with a source in such a manner that he or she reveals
information without being aware of giving away anything of value), “strategic
debriefing” (systematically covering topics and areas with a voluntary source who
consents to a formal interview), and “interrogation” (interaction and conversation
with a source who appears initially unwilling to provide information). EI implies
a “system” of gathering information about and from a source and a spectrum of
approaches, tools, activities, and techniques. This may involve investigative efforts,
development of scenarios, and involvement of others (teams of interviewers and
analysts, willing sources, and collaborators). Effective practice of EI usually
extends beyond one-to-one interactions with a source.
While the term “eduction” describes the scope of the study team’s investigations
and recommendations, it has not yet come into widespread use. From a practical
perspective, therefore, many of the team’s research efforts have focused on
functions and activities that are described as “interrogation,” primarily because
the source documents or the persons interviewed used that terminology. Moreover,
the processes described often had the adversarial character that the term calls
to mind. “Educing information,” by contrast, encompasses the full range of
approaches that, in the opinion of the study team, the Intelligence Community
should explore as it seeks to obtain useful information from sources in the future.

Activities
Literature Review
Since September 2004 the EI study team has conducted extensive reviews of
the behavioral and social science literature that deals directly or indirectly with
interrogation, interviewing, and other EI-related activities. We have also examined
military, intelligence, law enforcement, and investigative accounts pertaining to
interviewing, interrogation, and other areas related to EI. The historical accounts
spanned interrogations conducted by the United States and its allies and those
conducted by adversaries. The Prologue above summarizes some of the more
important programs and indicates why the United States abandoned this area of
research. As a result of our reviews, we have compiled a collection of open source
information on EI and a lengthy bibliography — the first of their kind. We have
also studied Intelligence Community (IC) training manuals and learned from
the experience of those involved with the military’s SERE (Survival, Evasion,
Resistance, and Escape) programs.
In parallel, the study team has followed public discussions about interrogation
programs and practices that have received attention in the past several years,
1
One public image of the word “interrogation” is illustrated in a quote profiling Newsweek
investigative reporter Michael Isikoff: “Mike will pull your fingernails out over coffee discussing
lawn care. He is just a born interrogator.” (New York Times, 17 May 2005).

2

especially those used at Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay
in Cuba, and various sites in Iraq. We have read media reports of “extraordinary
renditions”: transfers of persons under U.S. control to other countries in order to
facilitate their interrogation. We have also taken note of legislative and judicial
discourse and debate about the most appropriate interrogation “techniques” to
use in particular settings for detainees deemed to fit into a given category, for
example, those in the custody of the U.S. military.
Interviews and Consultations
We have consulted with U.S. experts, both within and outside of government,
who possess considerable knowledge about EI. Study team members visited law
enforcement and military training sites, attended training sessions, and talked
with instructors and students. In the course of these visits, we interviewed persons
with a wide range of experience in interviewing and interrogation, including
practitioners, trainers, supervisors, and senior managers. We also sought
guidance and advice from a group of government experts from IC, military, and
law enforcement organizations. We have collaborated with staff of the National
Defense Intelligence College (NDIC) on educational activities related to EI. We
have obtained continuing counsel from senior members of the ISB, including
experts in military intelligence, engineering, history, intelligence analysis, law
and public policy, medicine, and the workings of the Intelligence Community.
Specifically, the study team has:
•

Examined some of the costs of getting EI “wrong” and the benefits of
getting EI “right”;

•

Reviewed behavioral science studies to glean what has been learned
during the past fifty years about interviewing, interrogation, and other
areas related to EI;

•

Reviewed studies concerning both the “mechanical” and “nonmechanical” detection of deception. This task has included examination
of fledgling research efforts to use neuroimaging technologies to
determine if a person is being deceptive;

•

Studied the development and operation of the World War II MIS-Y
program;

•

Reviewed the KUBARK Counterintelligence Interrogation Manual to
ascertain how approaches to interrogation have and have not changed
since the manual was written in 1963;

•

Analyzed studies of law enforcement interviewing and interrogation
practices as well as law enforcement teaching and training materials in
these areas;

•

Identified the primary “barriers to success” that must be addressed in
the course of organizing, managing, and employing an effective U.S.
EI capability in the context of current and anticipated future conflict
scenarios;

3

•

Begun to map the relevance of negotiation theory and practice to
educing information and to further research in this area;

•

Started to construct an EI research agenda that identifies promising
areas for study that may improve EI practices;

•

Gathered and organized a working bibliography and a computerized
library of scientific and analytic articles related to EI; and

•

Worked with the NDIC to make EI a subject of professional intelligence
education.

Products of the Study
Attached to this report are ten papers commissioned by the Study on EI and an
annotated bibliography of key work in English on EI from World War II to the
present. Because they report on current or historical research and practice, most
of them of necessity address aspects of “interrogation”: the standard term used to
date in intelligence, military, and law enforcement contexts to describe methods
of obtaining information from sources.
To our knowledge, none of these papers duplicates the existing literature, classified
or unclassified. However, the papers do not cover the full spectrum of EI or of the
study’s investigations, nor do they collectively constitute the justification for the
study team’s recommendations. Instead, they report on selected aspects of current
research and practice that the U.S. government may wish to take into account as
it moves toward a new model of EI for the twenty-first century. The study team
offers these papers to stimulate better thinking, practice, research, teaching, and
training. They are intended as the “first word” in next-generation discussions of
EI, rather than as definitive statements.
The papers are:
1.

“Approaches to Interrogation in the Struggle against Terrorism:
Considerations of Cost and Benefit”

This paper explores areas of cost and benefit when interrogation choices are
made. The discussion points out the complexity of our choices and the need for
additional research to inform and to discipline how we think about these choices.
2.

“Approaching Truth: Behavioral Science Lessons on Educing
Information from Human Sources”

This paper reviews a wide range of material from the social and behavioral sciences
on educing information. Few empirical studies directly address the effectiveness
of interrogation in general, or of specific techniques, in generating accurate and
useful information. The paper concludes that virtually none of the interrogation
techniques used by U.S. personnel over the past half-century have been subjected
to scientific or systematic inquiry or evaluation, and that the accuracy of educed
information can be compromised by the way it is obtained. By contrast, a promising
4

body of social science research on persuasion and interpersonal influence could
provide a foundation for a more effective approach to educing information in
intelligence-gathering contexts.
3.

“Research on Detection of Deception: What We Know vs. What We
Think We Know”

This review examines the scientific literature regarding our current capacity to
detect deception by observing behavioral indicators and identifies additional
research that might improve that capacity. The findings indicate that common
beliefs about reliable cues to deception are frequently incorrect, and that the
research in this area to date may be largely irrelevant to national security needs.
4.

“Mechanical Detection of Deception: A Short Review”

This paper briefly reviews the mechanical methods created over the past century
to detect deception. The development of a more effective means for detecting
deception is predicated on research to build a sound theoretical basis for such a
system. The study concludes that, despite the polygraph’s shortcomings, there
is currently no viable technical alternative. While some neuroscience-based
alternatives have been proposed, these techniques pose significant problems and
far more research is needed if they are to become sufficiently reliable for use in
operational settings.
5.

“KUBARK Counterintelligence Interrogation Review:
Observations of an Interrogator. Lessons Learned and Avenues for
Further Research”

This paper examines the KUBARK Counterintelligence Interrogation Manual,
produced by the Central Intelligence Agency in 1963 (and declassified in 1997).
The writer, an experienced interrogator, considers how current approaches to
interrogation compare to approaches put forward forty years ago.
6.

“Custodial Interrogations: What We Know, What We Do, and
What We Can Learn from Law Enforcement Experiences”

This report explores both the literature and practice related to interrogation of
criminal suspects in custody, focusing almost exclusively — as the literature and
practice do — on eliciting confessions to crimes. The theoretical literature lays the
groundwork for interrogation practice by identifying the reasons why suspects do
or do not confess to crimes, while empirical findings pinpoint factors associated
with admissions and denials. A comparison of theory and technique reveals that
the interrogation techniques advocated in the literature take little account of the
factors that the empirical research shows might affect a suspect’s willingness to confess,
and provide little or no guidance to varying approaches for different types of suspects.

5

The effectiveness of standard interrogation techniques has never been validated
by empirical research. Moreover, techniques designed to obtain confessions to
crimes may have only limited relevance to preventive investigations of terroristrelated activities.
7.

“Barriers to Success: Critical Challenges in Developing a New Educing
Information Paradigm”
This paper analyzes three fundamental barriers to successfully educing information
from uncooperative sources: (1) linguistic/cultural barriers; (2) scientific/technical/
subject matter barriers; and (3) interpersonal/intrapersonal barriers.
8.

“Negotiation Theory and Practice: Exploring Ideas to Aid Information
Eduction”

Information eduction can be viewed as a complex set of negotiations. Government
officials have information needs, and sources have information they can disclose.
The challenge is to determine how the government can negotiate most effectively
for that information. This report therefore seeks to describe negotiation concepts
that might assist the information educer.
9.

“Negotiation Theory and Educing Information: Practical Concepts and
Tools”
This paper offers basic tools from negotiation theory for possible discussion by
those concerned with EI. The paper presents brief discussions of different possible
strategies for EI, a brief discussion of the sources of power available to educers
and sources, and then suggestions about preparation for EI.
10. “Options for Scientific Research on Eduction Practices”
Surprisingly, the last forty years have seen almost no scientific research examining
eduction practices. The “interrogation approaches” taught in standard interrogation
training (e.g., Army Field Manual 34-52) have remained largely unchanged since
World War II, yet no scientific research substantiates the effectiveness of these
approaches. Our current knowledge about eduction practices is based on feedback
and lessons learned from field experience.
This paper argues two points: first, that scientific investigation of eduction practices is
needed to supplement lessons learned from field experience, and second, that various
research venues are available to examine these practices. Research approaches could
include both retrospective analyses of data about past interrogations (including those
that used harsh methods) and new studies that relate different eduction practices to the
value of the information obtained.
11. Educing Information Bibliography
This selected, annotated bibliography includes the most useful items in English
covering the theory, research, and pragmatics of interrogation over the past fifty
years.

6

1
Approaches to Interrogation in the Struggle
against Terrorism: Considerations of Cost and
Benefit
Robert Coulam, Ph.D., J.D.
Simmons College School for Health Studies
June 2006

Abstract
The interrogation of suspects, witnesses, and others is an essential source of
information in the struggle against terrorism. It is accordingly important for
the United States to perform this function well. This paper considers how we
might think about the costs and benefits of different approaches to interrogation and how we might balance costs and benefits to support decisions affecting U.S. interrogation efforts. As will become clear, any weighing of costs
and benefits faces key uncertainties and areas of ignorance – most important,
little rigorous information exists about the relative effectiveness of different
techniques for educing information, and difficulties appear in identifying and
weighing many qualitative benefits and costs. This discussion underscores
the need for a stronger empirical foundation to support the choices of all
kinds that we must make to perform this function well.

Introduction
Interrogation is a promising source of information to support the United States’
struggle against terrorists. But there are difficult, competing values at stake in
interrogation, and the tradeoffs among these values are at times discounted. One
way to improve the choices that we make on interrogation is to understand the
values at stake; that is, to be careful to identify all of the areas of cost and benefit
that matter to us when interrogation choices are made. The discussion that follows
explores areas of cost and benefit that have been the focus of contemporary
decisions and debates. As a rule, for each of these objectives, “benefits” come
from more effective performance in areas we care about, while “costs” generally
reflect lesser performance.
The discussion is admittedly general in order to cover a relatively complete
array of costs and benefits in a brief paper. These generalities necessarily mask
many critical subtleties. Yet even this rudimentary summary suggests the

7

complexity of our choices and the need for additional research to inform and to
discipline how we think about these choices.
National Security
Obviously, the principal benefit of interrogation is to obtain information from
suspects and others that will increase our understanding of terrorist adversaries,2
thereby helping to protect our own population, support our allies, maintain civic
order and stability, and preserve important institutions.
Given the character of terrorist operations and the capacities of the United
States, human intelligence — information gained from people rather than from
technical means, documents, and other non-human sources — is especially
important in the struggle against terrorism. The U.S. government needs detailed
information about its adversaries, as well as strategic and cultural understanding
of how the information fits together. This information can help to forestall further
attacks and weaken terrorist organizations. But U.S. intelligence networks are
weak precisely in the regions where Al Qaeda and other terrorist cells play
significant roles. Interrogation thus becomes an especially important way to find
and elicit information.
The benefits of interrogation can be enormous (e.g., the prevention of a nuclear
explosion), quite small (e.g., filling in a minor part of a much larger picture of
terrorist activity, or merely showing that a suspect knows nothing of value), or
somewhere in between those extremes. Poor performance in the interrogation
function results in the loss of these benefits (a cost that with poor performance,
we may not always recognize — we typically will be unaware of the information
we fail to collect). Poor performance can also impose other costs, as described
later in this paper.
Interrogation efforts might yield greater benefits if the United States used
different ways to select, train, and organize interrogators, established different
rules and leadership to govern interrogations, or used other approaches that
might improve individual and organizational performance. The problem in
understanding the benefits of effective interrogations is that — unless the U.S.
government has rigorous information we do not know about — there is little
systematic knowledge available to tell us “what works” in interrogation. We do
not know what systems, methods, or processes of interrogation best protect the
nation’s security. For example, we lack systematic information to guide us as to
who should perform interrogations. We do not know what benefits would result if
we changed the way we recruit, train, and manage our interrogators.

2
We focus on the process of obtaining information from suspects, but it should be understood that
“interrogation” includes issues of how others — e.g., reluctant witnesses and intelligence sources — are
treated. We also leave aside large questions of how information might be analyzed or synthesized to
produce useful intelligence.

8

Coercion and Knowledge
Of particular concern, we do not fully understand a complex of issues
surrounding the use of coercion. Coercion is an important issue in all types of
interrogations — from local police precincts and petty crimes to distant centers
of detention and serious terrorist threats. The costs of coercion in human, ethical,
political, and other terms vary, but can be enormous. Even when these costs are
acknowledged, contemporary discussions often assume that torture, physical
coercion, and psychological coercion are effective ways to obtain information,
especially in emergencies (e.g., when there is little time, as with “ticking bombs”).
Torture and many forms of physical and psychological coercion have been used
for centuries. Whether we like it or not, coercion might be more “effective” than
other methods in some circumstances. Unfortunately, much of the current debate
in this area proceeds as if we actually knew what those circumstances were. In
fact, we do not, beyond anecdotal evidence adduced ad hoc.
This lack of understanding presents a troubling difficulty. Coercion may
be the “lesser evil”3 when it can prevent imminent assaults on national security
that are substantially out of proportion to the costs of using coercion. But if
other interrogation approaches are available that would more effectively obtain
needed information — e.g., more informed or skillful methods — then we are
descending into an ethical and security abyss if we use coercion in ignorance of
all its implications. While our understanding will never be so complete as to make
any of these choices easy or simple, we face a compelling security imperative
to expand our knowledge about interrogation approaches. We should not simply
assume that greater use of coercion will make interrogations more effective.
We can imagine at least four sources of information that might give us firmer
empirical guidance:
• History – To inform current choices, we might look to the benefits and
costs of interrogation methods used in past conflicts. As of 11 September
2001, the United States had not mounted “strategic” interrogation efforts
in decades, so the relevant U.S. history is old — arguably going back to
World War II.4
• Comparative practices – We also might look to the experience of other
democratic countries that have a much longer history of conducting
interrogations in the context of substantial and often imminent threats
to their internal security. This source of knowledge includes the

3
For a careful consideration of coercion in these terms, see Michael Ignatieff, The Lesser Evil:
Political Ethics in an Age of Terror (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004).
4
“Strategic interrogation” is commonly distinguished from “tactical interrogation.” The latter is the
kind of real-time interrogation that occurs in the midst of a conflict or battlefield. U.S. forces have long
been familiar with tactical interrogation. Strategic interrogation concerns broader knowledge about
enemy forces — in the present context, knowledge about the membership, organization, communication,
finances, and plans of terrorist organizations. For an excellent study of strategic interrogation methods
in World War II, see Steven M. Kleinman, “The History of MIS-Y: U.S. Strategic Interrogation During
World War II,” unpublished master’s thesis, Joint Military Intelligence College, August 2002.

9

contemporary experience of other countries as well as their historical
experience.
• Social science – The tools of social science have not been applied to
the problems of interrogation in any substantial way,5 yet such an effort
could obviously be undertaken and might produce substantial benefits.
This is especially true as the United States accumulates experience in
interrogating suspected terrorists, and producing data that could be
systematically analyzed. It is also clear that ongoing interrogation efforts
present opportunities to evaluate methods with unprecedented rigor.6 For
example, what kinds of interrogation systems, approaches, or methods
might yield accurate and useful information with which sources in which
contexts?
•

Casual empiricism and experience – Fourth, we might inform current
policy choices on interrogation by drawing upon casual empiricism
and the kind of expertise gained diffusely from experience. This type
of information often guides policy choices in areas where there is little
rigorous information — a situation that has long characterized the debate
over methods and processes of interrogation.

The fourth source of instruction has been our primary guide to date (again,
allowing for the possibility that more rigorous classified information exists, but
has not been revealed to the public). That is an unnecessarily weak foundation to
support the choices that we must make. In essence, we do not know enough to be
able to calibrate the costs and benefits of different methods or processes.
The best we can do now is to recognize categories of benefits and costs
at relatively general levels and subjectively weigh the results. We might also
undertake some kind of effort to verify empirical relationships that are being
casually inferred.
Intimidation of Terrorists and Their Supporters
To judge from the ways governments have used interrogation, there is a
pervasive belief that coercive interrogation can intimidate terrorists and their
supporters in ways that enhance the effectiveness of interrogations and perhaps
even reduce the underlying terrorist threat. For example, a country that insists it
will observe no limits on interrogation methods — that it will “take the gloves
off ”— may believe that this communicates resolve and will deter potential
adversaries.

5
For a review, see Randy Borum, “Approaching Truth: Behavioral Science Lessons on Educing
Information from Human Sources,” in Intelligence Science Board Study Phase 1 Report, Educing
Information (Washington, DC: NDIC Press, 2006).
6
The point here is not that ethically improper experiments should be performed, but rather that
social science could help us to learn from data we already have or could reasonably and ethically
collect. Note the discussion of research opportunities in Paul Lehner, Options for Scientific Research
on Eduction Practices in Phase 1 Report (Intelligence Science Board Study Phase 1 Report, Educing
Information (Washington, DC: NDIC Press, 2006).

10

It is difficult to evaluate whether and how much coercive interrogation actually
affects terrorists and their support. Moreover, decisionmakers must be careful
about assuming that tough interrogation techniques impress our adversaries. For
example, would terrorists respect coercive interrogation more than they would
respect less coercive, but more effective, interrogation? Or would they respect
any other approach that more substantially undermined terrorist networks? While
it may well be useful to intimidate terrorists, “intimidation” can mean far more
than “being tough” and simply asserting physical dominance in interrogations.
Indeed, some of the most critical actions that might truly intimidate terrorists
are “boringly bureaucratic, achingly administrative”7 and have nothing to do
with coercion. A skilled interrogation — which encompasses far more than an
exchange of questions and answers — might well elicit more information by
using other methods.
Nevertheless, many believe that at a strictly operational level a general
reputation for ruthlessness might make suspects more responsive in an interrogation
setting, even if brutality in fact is never used. To our knowledge this belief rests
on casual empiricism and has never been rigorously tested. The absence of such
tests is one reason for the continuing debate over whether suspects (a) give
useful information when they fear coercion, (b) to avoid coercion, simply tell
interrogators what they think the interrogators want to hear, or (c) exhibit a mix
of responses, depending on a variety of factors (e.g., personality, context, training,
skill of the interrogator, and others). Examination of historical data might provide
some indications of how suspects actually behave.
Ethical Concerns and the Rule of Law
Given the compelling need to protect the nation’s security, governments
experience considerable pressure to place the interrogation of suspected terrorists
in “the twilight shadows of the law”8 — especially given terrorists’ propensities,
much demonstrated, to exploit the laws and sensitivities of others but to observe
few limits on their own behavior. The United States must consider the nuances of
the Geneva Conventions as applied to suspected terrorists; terrorists demonstrate
few such concerns.
In a democracy the legitimacy of government action is important to maintain
support for what the government does in this struggle. Ethical concerns and
the rule of law are cornerstones of that legitimacy, and the primary reason for
conducting interrogations according to a high standard of ethics may be simply

7
The phrase comes from Richard Cohen, discussing a very different problem, in “Deterring
Common Sense,” Washington Post, 24 January 2006, A17.
8
H.C. 5100/94, Public Committee against Torture in Israel v. The State of Israel, 53 (4) P.D. 817
(1999), paragraph 40.

11

that it is widely believed to be the right thing to do.9 These are important benefits
to address in making choices about interrogation policy. As summarized by
Israel’s High Court of Justice in its ruling against the interrogation practices of
that country’s internal security service:
This is the destiny of a democracy—it does not see all means
as acceptable, and the ways of its enemies are not always open
before it. A democracy must sometimes fight with one hand tied
behind its back. Even so, a democracy has the upper hand. The
rule of law and the liberty of an individual constitute important
components in its understanding of security. At the end of the
day, they strengthen its spirit and this strength allows it to
overcome its difficulties.10
Thus, it is not enough to know whether “coercion works” in interrogation.
Interrogation practices that offend ethical concerns and skirt the rule of law may
indeed have narrow utilitarian value: It is possible that methods that “shock the
conscience” and/or violate international or domestic law are effective in educing
information in some situations.11 But costs must be recognized: such practices may
undermine the legitimacy of government action, weaken domestic support for the
long struggle against terrorism, and eventually limit the government’s ability to act.
Of course, decisionmakers may believe that they can avoid this cost by keeping
coercive interrogation practices secret. However, at least in the U.S. context, that
strategy is questionable: Much of the secret effort (although we cannot know how
much) will in due course become publicly known. More indirectly, such practices
run the risk of undermining the democratic institutions that the struggle against
terrorism is meant to defend. It is therefore costly if interrogation practices appear
to violate our treaty obligations and domestic laws or offend ethical concerns, and
instead follow selective policy imperatives or beliefs.
It is again difficult to evaluate how costly such behavior is. If interrogation
practices undermine legitimacy, the effects will influence the behavior and beliefs
of the populace in diffuse, and often indirect, ways. Obviously, behavior and
beliefs are subject to many influences, not only the effects of our interrogation
methods. But beliefs about ethical behavior and the rule of law are powerful.
For example, overwhelming majorities of both parties in Congress supported the
9
By discussing ethics and law together, we do not mean to imply that they are the same. Among
other things, interrogation practices that offend ethical beliefs may not violate the law, and practices
that are believed to be ethical may not be legal. Moreover, violations of law and ethics likely will have
different impacts or consequences in particular circumstances. Notwithstanding these differences and
others, law and ethics are treated together here for convenience — at the level of generality of this
discussion, the effects of undermining the rule of law are similar to the effects of offending widely held
ethical concerns. A more extensive discussion would recognize these similarities, but would address
these two categories separately.
10
H.C. 5100/94, Public Committee against Torture in Israel v. The State of Israel, paragraph 39.
11
Note that ethics and law are linked in this context, because a “shock the conscience” standard is
one test of the constitutionality of U.S. government action involving coercion. For example, see Seth F.
Kreimer’s discussion in “Too Close to the Rack and the Screw: Constitutional Constraints on Torture
in the War on Terror,” 6 U. Pa. J. Const. L. 278, 288-294 (November 2003).

12

McCain Amendment. This vote demonstrated the firm belief that U.S. interrogation
methods should respect the law, avoid gross abuses, and adhere to a general sense
of decency. It represents a collective resolve to assert the standard of law and
humane behavior against pressures to use coercion and abuse.
International Support to Wage the Struggle against Terrorism
Domestic concerns about ethics and upholding the rule of law have an
important international corollary. Interrogation methods that preserve the
country’s position as a moral leader in the struggle against terrorism enhance
the ability of the United States to enlist international cooperation. This is not a
unilateral struggle. The United States requires allied support for much of what
needs to be done, including:
•

Intelligence.– The vital role of strategic intelligence in combating
terrorism demands unprecedented levels of cooperation between the
intelligence agencies of the United States and other countries. We must
encourage other countries to intensify their efforts to obtain intelligence
that prevents attacks, share intelligence data that in the past might have
been closely held, gather and share more comprehensive information on
the movement of suspect funds and people, and act together against the
common enemy.

•

Diplomacy.– All of these added intelligence requirements — along with
law enforcement, military, and other needs — translate into a much
larger agenda for diplomacy, including expanded diplomatic cooperation
in law enforcement, telecommunications, commerce (e.g., banking and
financial information), and other areas.

It is more difficult to make progress in needed areas of diplomacy and
intelligence if U.S. interrogation methods provoke strong international reactions.
Danger to Troops and Others at Risk of Capture
One key benefit that interrogation policy must address is the protection of our
troops (and others, such as aid workers and contractors). This benefit derives from
notions of reciprocity: specifically, the expectation that if our troops are captured
they will receive more humane treatment if the United States treats its captives
humanely. This concern over reciprocity has long been an important factor in
international agreements on the treatment of detainees.12
Concern about reciprocity is based on the empirical assumption that terrorists
will observe fewer rules if we observe fewer rules. This assumption may not be
true. In a world where terrorist (and insurgent) adversaries behead captives, it is
at least arguable that terrorists assume they will receive harsh treatment no matter
what we do, within some range at least.13 But it is also arguable that more humane
12
See Michael Walzer, Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument with Historical Illustrations
(New York: Basic Books, 1977), Part Three.
13
See Sabrina Tavernise, “Iraqis Found in Torture House Tell of Brutality of Insurgents,” New York
Times, 19 June 2005.

13

treatment would have some positive effect on our adversaries. This is another area
where it would be useful, where possible, to test widely held assumptions against
available evidence.
In the absence of real evidence, we can say only that a cost of more coercive
interrogations might be the harsher treatment of our troops and others. Also, to
the degree that international law on the treatment of detainees rests on widespread
reciprocity over time, we undermine that fabric for this and future conflicts if we
fail to observe certain limits in how we interrogate others.
Legal Problems for U.S. Troops and Officials
If other countries suspect the United States of using unacceptably coercive
methods in interrogations, the U.S. may encounter legal problems in efforts to
capture or extradite terrorists. For example, given obligations under the 1987
Convention Against Torture, allied countries might be unwilling to extradite
suspected terrorists — even Bin Laden himself — if they believe there is a
substantial likelihood that these suspects will be tortured in U.S. hands.14 More
ominously, foreign prosecutors could bring charges against U.S. officials and
troops before international tribunals (e.g., charges of war crimes for U.S. conduct
in third countries) or before their domestic tribunals (for U.S. behavior within those
countries — for example, if U.S. agents break local laws by seizing or detaining
terrorist suspects on foreign soil and subject them to abuse or maltreatment15).
Conversely, if the United States has a record of treating captives — even suspected
terrorists — humanely, other nations might be more willing to accede to U.S.
requests for extradition, and U.S. troops might run less risk of being prosecuted
for practices that, to their knowledge, are acceptable.
U.S. Leadership on Human Rights
The proper place of human rights among overall foreign policy objectives
is a matter of debate. But there is little debate that the United States has been a
leader in the human rights movement internationally for decades, and that this
leadership has had some effect on the behavior of other countries. Upholding
high standards even in its interrogation practices would further strengthen the
U.S. reputation for respecting human dignity. By contrast, if the United States is
seen as a country that tortures prisoners, it loses the moral standing that would
allow it to press others to observe a higher standard of behavior. For example,
when a recent State Department annual report on human rights criticized China
and other countries for human rights violations, China peremptorily dismissed

14
A foretaste of this difficulty occurred shortly after 11 September 2001, a time when allies were
giving the United States enormous latitude to respond to the attacks. At this time, Britain was closely
allied to the United States in all of the U.S. responses. But Britain put the United States on notice
that— if British soldiers captured bin Laden — Britain would not extradite him to the United States
unless the United States waived the death penalty. Germany declined to turn over an alleged top aide
to bin Laden until the United States waived the death penalty.
15
For example, see “Italy Prosecutor Seeks Arrest Warrants,” Associated Press, 20 July 2005;
“U.S. Faces Questions over ‘Kidnappings’ in Europe,” Reuters, 20 May 2005; and Craig Whitlock,
“Europeans Investigate CIA Role in Abductions,” Washington Post, 13 March 2005, A1.

14

the criticisms, taking the United States to task for using a “double standard” in
judging other countries’ behavior.16
Creation of More Enemies
We do not fully understand the social, political, religious, and other dynamics
that give rise to terrorist activities. We also do not know the extent to which
specific actions by the United States and its allies actually change perceptions
of the United States in Muslim and other countries. It is possible, for example,
that America’s culture, economy, and foreign policy (e.g., enduring support of
Israel) already place the country beyond the pale for much of the radical Muslim
audience. But an accumulation of specific actions that appear to show contempt
for Muslim people might well affect how we are viewed,17 especially among
moderate Muslims whose opinion we seek to influence as part of our longer term
struggle against terrorism.
Integrity of the Military
The U.S. military has a long tradition of adhering to the laws of war, including
observance of conventions about the treatment of detainees. Part of this stems
from self-interest (based on beliefs about how our troops will be treated in turn, as
described earlier). Quite apart from concerns for reciprocity are questions about
the integrity of military units and the values of military ethics. Interrogation
that treats fighters from other countries in the same way U.S. troops hope to be
treated might strengthen a sense of pride in the military profession. By contrast,
interrogation that is unbounded by rules or becomes a form of sadism, for example,
can erode military discipline and undermine the integrity and higher purposes of
military units.
Resources
The last area of concern to note is perhaps the most conspicuous and
quantifiable: financial and other resources. We will not discuss this aspect of costs
and benefits at length, but it should at least be noted that different approaches
to interrogation have different implications for scarce resources (money, skilled
personnel, language capacity) and will not fit the existing capacities of all
organizations equally well. In some contexts, those differences are important.

Conclusion
Given a continuing terrorist threat, the United States must obtain information
through interrogations, but it must do so without undermining the purposes of the
very effort that interrogations are supposed to serve. The country thus needs to
understand the relative costs and benefits of alternative interrogation strategies and
programs. While it is relatively easy to imagine the costs and benefits of alternative

16
Edward Cody, “China, Others Criticize U.S. Report on Rights: Double Standard at State Dept.
Alleged,” Washington Post, 4 March 2005, A14.
17
For example, see Somini Sengupta and Salman Masood, “Guantánamo Comes to Define U.S. to
Muslims,” The New York Times, 21 May 2005.

15

programs and strategies in the most general terms, it is not easy to estimate the
magnitude of these costs and benefits or to weigh them carefully against each
other, primarily because we have little systematic empirical knowledge about the
most important relationships at stake.
Moreover, there is a trap in thinking in isolation about benefits and costs
of any interrogation approach. The critical issue is always: “compared to what?”
Decisions might be improved simply by paying explicit attention to the full range
of costs and benefits at stake in decisions on interrogation and attempting to
weigh them against each other, however imperfectly. Better results will require
improved understanding, so that we can have greater confidence in making the
difficult tradeoffs that are, in any event, certain to be required.

16

2
Approaching Truth:
Behavioral Science Lessons on Educing
Information from Human Sources
Randy Borum, Psy.D.
University of South Florida
November 2005
[W]e insist, and have insisted for generations, that truth is to be
approached, if not attained, through research guided by a systematic
method. In the social sciences ... there is such a method.
— Sherman Kent (1949), Strategic Intelligence for American World Policy

Abstract
Few empirical studies in the social and behavioral sciences directly address the
effectiveness of interrogation in general, or of specific techniques, in producing
accurate and useful information. This paper summarizes existing theoretical and
empirical findings and analyzes them in the framework of five topics: models for
educing information, strategies to increase the willingness to provide information,
strategies to overcome resistance, factors affecting the accuracy of educed information, and the effect of “stress and duress” techniques on obtaining information.
Essentially none of the interrogation techniques used by U.S. personnel over the
past half-century has been subjected to scientific or systematic inquiry or evaluation, and the accuracy of educed information can be compromised by the way it
is obtained. By contrast, a promising body of social science research on persuasion and interpersonal influence could provide a foundation for a more effective
approach to educing information in intelligence-gathering contexts. Research on
persuasion, influence, compliance, and resistance has focused primarily on persons from Western cultures, and the results and insights may not apply equally or
evenly across all cultures.

Introduction
In most cases, and for most types of threats to U.S. national security, one
or more people — human sources — possess the most complete and timely

17

information on our adversaries’ preparations, planning, and intentions. Particularly
in the contemporary threat environment, where the likelihood of local terrorist
attacks greatly exceeds that of invasion by a foreign state, it would be difficult to
overstate the importance of human source intelligence. Both policymakers and
practitioners therefore need reliable information about effective and appropriate
strategies and techniques to educe accurate information from human sources who
may possess information vital to our national security and who appear unwilling
to provide it.
The need to understand what approaches, techniques, and strategies are
likely to produce accurate, useful information from an uncooperative human
source seems self-evident. Surprisingly, however, these questions have received
scant scientific attention in the last 50 years. Almost no empirical studies in the
social and behavioral sciences directly address the effectiveness of interrogation
in general practice, or of specific techniques in generating accurate and useful
information from otherwise uncooperative persons.
Policies that govern how U.S. personnel obtain information must take
into consideration issues of legality, ethics, morality, and national values. Yet,
effectiveness remains the paramount issue. This paper and the larger study from
which it is drawn seek to address these issues as part of an ongoing effort to improve
human intelligence collection, and thereby protect U.S. national security.

Background
Most of the scientific articles dealing with interrogation-related topics apply
to, and are derived from, a law enforcement (LE) context. However, the nature
and objectives of police interrogations differ significantly from those in military
or intelligence contexts. In essence, most LE interrogations seek to obtain a
confession from a suspect, rather than to gather accurate, useful information from
a possibly — but not necessarily — cognizant source. These are very different
tasks. Moreover, there are remarkably few studies of actual interrogations
in either criminal or intelligence contexts. Training manuals, materials, and
anecdotes contain information about common and recommended practices and
the behavioral assumptions on which they are based, but virtually none of those
documents cites or relies upon any original research. It even appears that some of
the conventional wisdom that has guided training and policy for half a century is
at odds with existing scientific knowledge.
Without a scientific literature or systematic analysis — at least one available in
open-source information — practitioners (i.e., “boots-on-the-ground” assets) and
policymakers must make decisions on the basis of other sources and considerations.
Primary among them are the iconic 17 techniques described in U.S. Army Field
Manual 34-52, Intelligence Interrogation, which serves as the model or guide to
intelligence interrogations for all the armed forces. These exact techniques have
been included in successive editions for more than 50 years, yet even people
intimately familiar with 34-52 are unaware of any studies or systematic analyses
that support their effectiveness, or of any clear historical record about how the

18

techniques were initially selected for inclusion. Instead, they continue to be used
because they have “always” (as long as memory serves) been used.
The effort to re-evaluate, and perhaps even improve, policies and practices
in this area would benefit greatly from systematic, scientific knowledge regarding
the effectiveness of various techniques for educing information. To establish a
baseline for greater understanding, this review examines theoretical and empirical
findings in the social and behavioral sciences that might help policymakers and
practitioners to understand the process of deriving accurate, useful information
from human sources. The review draws from multiple areas within psychology,
sociology, criminology, criminal justice, cognitive science, medicine, anthropology,
cultic studies, communications theory, marketing, public health, and psychoand socio-linguistics. While the study reviewed materials from many countries,
analysis was limited to those published in English.
The findings are presented and analyzed within the functional framework of
five guiding questions:
1.

What models exist for educing information from uncooperative
sources?

2.

What strategies might increase or decrease a source’s willingness to
provide information?

3.

What is resistance and what strategies exist for getting past it?

4.

What key factors affect the accuracy of educed information?

5.

What is known about the effect of “stress and duress” techniques for
educing accurate, useful information?

Educing Information from Uncooperative Sources
Educing information is most productively envisioned as a process, rather than
as an applied set of techniques. Moreover, the context of that process should be
viewed broadly, not solely (or even primarily) as an across-the-table interaction
between an educer and a source.
Many broad fields of study — including psychology, anthropology, linguistics,
and communications — offer theories, concepts, methods, and research findings
that may inform and further our understanding of the process of educing
information from uncooperative sources. A model for understanding and studying
the process of educing information could provide a platform and language for
identifying actors, elements, actions, dynamics, and effects.18 Major conceptual
models from at least four areas of social science literature fulfill these functions:

18
According to the American Heritage Dictionary, a model is “a schematic description of a system,
theory, or phenomenon that accounts for its known or inferred properties and may be used for further
study of its characteristics.” As the term is used here, a model is distinguished from specific techniques
or general themes, such as power, coercion, fear, or pain, which are discussed later.

19

communications, discourse analysis, persuasive message production/analysis,
and negotiation theory.
Communications Models
Educing and providing information, at the most basic level, involve a process
of communication. Since the 1940s researchers have been working to develop
a comprehensive model of the communication process. While communications
models cannot fully capture all key elements of information eduction, they offer
some useful concepts and frameworks. First, they both identify and label the
key components in a communication encounter (e.g., sender, message, medium,
receiver). Second, they array these components in the framework of a dynamic
process in which they interact with one another. Third, the transactive model in
particular emphasizes the centrality of “fields of experience” that both source
and receiver bring to the encounter and that surround the overarching process. In
educing information, cultural factors and differences in experiences are critical
to understanding how to bridge the gap between the intended and received
message.
Discourse Analysis
Discourse analysis, a subdiscipline of linguistics, offers a narrower analytic
framework. Its focus is strictly on discourse; that is, patterns of verbal or textual
exchange. Stubbs (1983), one of the early and leading scholars of discourse
analysis, defines the discipline as:
the linguistic analysis of naturally occurring connected speech
or written discourse. Roughly speaking, it refers to attempts to
study the organisation of language above the sentence or above
the clause, and therefore to study larger linguistic units, such
as conversational exchanges or written texts. It follows that
discourse analysis is also concerned with language use in social
contexts, and in particular with interaction or dialogue between
speakers. (Stubbs, 1983, 1; for this and other references, see
bibliography at the end of this essay)
Persuasive Message Production/Analysis
Stephen Wilson coined the term “persuasive message production” to describe
a subdiscipline of study that integrates research on gaining compliance with
theories of message production. He poses as its central question: “When we want
to convince another person to do something, why do we say what we do?”
Negotiation Theory
Theories and models of negotiation offer some useful concepts and
terminology to describe the process by which people with apparently divergent
“positions” interact. Two of its most important aspects are the explicit emphasis
on understanding strategy rather than just tactics, and the distinction between
negotiation or influence interactions based on “positions” versus those based

20

on “interests.” In the parlance of modern negotiation theory, a position is what
negotiators say they want, while an interest is what they really want.
Negotiation theory centers on how people arrive at a solution rather than
which solution they choose. It identifies three overarching stances or strategies.
The first is a distributive strategy in which the negotiator’s objective is to get all
he/she can, regardless of equity or the perceptions of the other party(ies). Using
the common “pie” metaphor, the goal is to get the whole pie or at least most of it.
A second approach uses an integrative strategy, where the goal is to identify and
implement solutions that meet the needs of all parties in the negotiation, often
by not quibbling over the distribution of a particular limited resource but instead
finding ways beyond that resource to meet each party’s needs. This is referred
to as “creating value,” or, metaphorically, “expanding the pie.” The third is a
mixed-motive strategy. As its name implies, it blends the objectives of the other
two approaches: It seeks solutions that serve the needs of as many parties to the
negotiation as possible, but places equally high priority on getting one’s own “fair
share.”
In a position-based negotiation, each party stakes out its objective (or position)
and tries not to retreat from it. The negotiation operates within a distributive
strategy, creating a competitive or adversarial dynamic, with the guiding ethos of
seeking justice. By contrast, interest-based negotiations operate in an integrative
or mixed-motive strategy, creating a collaborative dynamic, with the guiding
ethos of problem solving.
Implications
Among these four theories, persuasive message production seems to provide
unique methodological insights for studying the element of educing information
that involves transactive exchanges of communication between an educer and
source. Negotiation theory, however, seems better suited to identifying principles
and overarching strategies — particularly interest-based stances — that might
frame the overall information gathering process, and to providing language and
perspectives that are not overtly adversarial.

Strategies Affecting Willingness to Provide
Information
Educers of information must be skilled in understanding and applying a
broad range of strategies, approaches, and techniques of persuasion and influence
to gather information from people determined not to give it. Considerable social
science literature on persuasion and influence may be relevant to the development
of processes for educing information. Literally hundreds of researchers have
contributed to the thousands of studies that comprise this body of work. For
example, in the PsycINFO database of psychology publications (which is neither
comprehensive nor exhaustive) between 1967 and mid-2005, the subject heading
for “Persuasive Communication” contains 3,258 entries, the heading for “Attitude
Change” contains 5,559, and the heading for “Interpersonal Influences” contains

21

4,405 published entries. Not surprisingly, however, virtually none of these studies
replicate the context of an intelligence interrogation or use samples similar to the
populations of interest. Nevertheless, these findings and concepts may help point
the way toward a more specialized body of scientific or systematic inquiry.
Influence Strategies
Knowles and Linn (2004) drew one of the most fundamental distinctions
among types of influence strategies, and one of the most useful for thinking
about applications to educing information. They assume that most attitudes and
judgments emerge from an “approach-avoidance” model of conflict (Knowles,
Butler and Linn, 2001). Basically, this model rests on the premise that whenever
we contemplate an act or objective, our decisions result from an internal struggle
between forces that push or draw us toward the action (called approach motives)
and those that inhibit or pull us away from it (called avoidance motives) (Dollard
and Miller, 1950, Lewin, 1958, Miller, 1959). Knowles and Linn suggest that one
major implication of this model is that:
there are two fundamentally different ways to create change,
two different strategies for promoting movement toward
some goal. Alpha strategies promote change by activating the
approach forces, thereby increasing the motivation to move
toward the goal. By contrast, Omega strategies promote change
by minimizing the avoidance forces, thereby reducing the
motivation to move away from the goal (Knowles and Linn,
2004, 119, emphasis added).
Increasing a Source’s Motivation to Share Information
Rapport
Most training materials and guides on law enforcement interrogation
emphasize the need for one or more interrogators to develop a rapport with the
subject. Indeed, rapport is widely regarded as an essential foundation for most
successful LE interrogations. For example, a survey of 100 British detectives
(Walkley, 1987) found that nearly half (42%) believed that a previous interviewer’s
failure to establish satisfactory rapport with a suspect had contributed to the
suspect’s denial. Once good rapport had been established with another detective
the suspects typically confessed.
Rapport usually begins to develop during conversation — maybe even “small
talk” — and serves at least two functions. First, research studies say, it helps to
“induce” or facilitate compliance with subsequent requests — and gets the source
talking. Second, it allows the educer to identify and assess potential motivations,
interests, and vulnerabilities. The way the target perceives the agent (and their
relationship) — and this may be important for educing information — becomes
especially critical under conditions in which the target is unmotivated or unable
to devote mental energy to thinking about the agent’s arguments and analyzing
them.

22

Persuasion
Since the early 1980s, Robert Cialdini (2001), a professor of psychology at
Arizona State University, has attempted to distill, explain, and apply the plethora
of existing research studies on interpersonal influence to make the general
population more discerning about, and aware of, the persuasive attempts that
constantly (and sometimes subtly) bombard them. Cialdini has concisely classified
the six major strategies of persuasion that have been studied. All of them have
proven remarkably effective over time with a range of tasks and different kinds
of people.
Even though the research on these factors is voluminous and robust, none has
been systematically studied in conditions similar to those of an interrogation. Thus,
it is unknown how their effects might change in that context or how those effects
might differ for persons from non-Western cultures. Nevertheless, they offer some
promising guidance. The following summary does not do justice to the breadth
and depth of the scholarly contributions made by Cialdini and other researchers,
but it does identify the major “tried and true” strategies of interpersonal influence
described in the social science literature.
Likeability
One significant factor (again, stronger in some situations than others) is how
much we like the other person. Social scientists have examined what factors
affect one’s “likeability,” and some of them are within an individual’s control.
Specifically, research — conducted primarily on Westerners — shows that we
tend to like others who:
•

Are physically attractive;

•

Appear to like us (directly and indirectly communicated);

•

Behave in a friendly and positive manner;

•

Are similar to us;

•

Are familiar to us;

•

Cooperate with us or generally behave consistently with our own interests;
and

•

Appear to possess positive traits such as intelligence, competence, kindness,
honesty, etc.

Authority
An agent’s perceived authority is another major relationship-based determinant
of influence. Social science research suggests that people are more likely to be
influenced by the arguments of a person whom they perceive as an authority or an
expert, especially on the topic of the discussion. Similarly, they are more likely
to comply with requests made by someone who has status or authority or even
someone with relevant expertise.

23

Reciprocity
There is a powerful — often unspoken — social norm of reciprocity, variously
known as “give and take,” a “two-way street,” and “you scratch my back and I’ll
scratch yours.” People are more likely to give to those from whom they have
already received or expect to receive something. This applies not only to material
goods, but also to social commodities such as favors and information. Research
suggests that people are more likely to respond positively (affirmatively) to
suggestions or requests for compliance from someone who has first provided a
benefit to them than from someone who has not. Perhaps sources would be more
willing to “give” to an educer if the educer has first given something (e.g., special
rations, reading material) to them.
Commitment/Consistency
People want to see themselves — and be seen by others — as fulfilling their
promises and commitments, possessing a coherent set of beliefs and values, and
always acting in consonance with those beliefs. The implication is that people are
more likely to cooperate or be influenced in a particular direction if a request is
consistent with a previously declared commitment or statement of principle, or
at least is not inconsistent with it. If an educer can persuade a source to commit
to doing something, he or she can use that as leverage to get the source to follow
through. Conversely, an educer could use the language of prior commitments —
such as the Code of Conduct and argue that a particular request does not violate
its provisions and that, perhaps, responding to the request would serve a “greater
good” related to some other personality trait that the source valued highly.
Social Validation
One force that inclines people to action is whether others have performed the
action before, and how many have done so. This works most powerfully when
the “others” are similar in various ways (e.g., age, race, interests, socioeconomic
status, etc.) to the target of the influence. For example, an intelligence source
might be more likely to provide information if he believes others in his captured
cohort have already done so.
Scarcity
Something that is abundant or easily attainable is not nearly as desirable
as something scarce or rare. Studies have shown that people are more drawn
to particular choices if their option to exercise them is limited. In an educing
information context, an educer might offer an incentive for information that
is only available to the source if he decides immediately (or within one hour),
after which “all deals are off.” The diminishing availability of the incentive will
probably increase its potency.
Fear and Coercion
Fear
Some traditional notions of interrogation suggest that fear can be a powerful
motivator, and that fear of an aversive consequence often affects behavior even
24

more than actually delivering the consequence. Research — not conducted in
interrogation contexts — seems to suggest that under certain conditions fear
can facilitate compliance; however, it does not adequately address whether fear
leads to more accurate and useful information (in, for example, an intelligence
interrogation situation). That is, fear may motivate an enemy source to “talk,” but
not necessarily to provide accurate intelligence.
Research in social science, particularly in marketing and health education,
suggests that the effectiveness of a threat appears to be determined largely by the
perceived magnitude of the threat, the recipient’s perceived vulnerability, and
the perceived effectiveness of the proposed alternative to the feared outcome.
Compliance seems most likely when the appeal to fear is high and the recommended
behavior is perceived to be highly effective (Witte and Allen, 2000). This means
the source must consider the threat credible and must believe that the educer will
withdraw it if the source complies. For example, some experienced interrogators
have suggested that threatening a source with death is not particularly effective
because the source may believe that an educer who is willing to kill him might
be willing — even likely — to kill him whether he complies or not. The source’s
motivation to comply therefore diminishes.
Coercion
Little social science literature speaks directly to the effectiveness of coercive
tactics in educing accurate, useful information, but there is literature on how
coercive influence strategies, such as inducing fear, affects relationships. The
induction of fear or pain appears to be a critical element. If a source views the
educer as the cause of his aversive situation, he may react against it by increasing
his resistance and determination not to comply (see the next section). Research
has shown consistently that recipients of punishment or aversive stimuli do
distinguish between unpleasant sensations that are self-inflicted or naturally
occurring and those intentionally caused by another person. One implication for
educing information seems to be that the source should not view the primary
educer as the cause of any negative consequences; someone else should wear
the black hat if necessary. Ideally, the source should perceive that he alone is
responsible for his situation.
More generally, social science research indicates that a perception of coercion
can negatively affect the tenor of the relationship between the educer and the source
and decrease the likelihood that the source will comply or cooperate. Research
both in North America and in Asia (China) has shown that using coercive influence
strategies causes targets (or sources, in the context of educing information) to
feel disrespected, whereas persuasion strategies communicate respect. Thus,
importantly, coercion creates a competitive dynamic that facilitates rejection of
the other party’s position where persuasion creates a cooperative dynamic that
facilitates greater openness to the other party’s position and productive conflict
resolution (Tjosvold and Sun, 2001). A similar line of research has shown that
rational persuasion — and avoidance of “pressure” — increases the likelihood
of target commitment in influence interactions (Yukl et al., 1996). Interestingly,

25

using coercive strategies also has an effect on agents — typically instilling in
them a more negative evaluation of the target, including his or her ability to think.
This effect is not found among agents who use strategies of rational persuasion
(O’Neal et al, 1994).
Under conditions that simulate an intelligence interrogation, indirect
strategies for eliciting information (i.e., acquiring information through interaction
by means other than asking for it directly) may be more effective than direct, highpressure techniques. In one of the few open-source studies on the effectiveness
of military “resistance training,” 58 cadets at the Royal Norwegian Naval
Academy were subjected to a simulated prisoner-of-war exercise. Some had
received a pre-training experiential exercise in resisting interrogation, others
were given only a pre-training lecture. Perhaps of greatest interest is that the use
of indirect interrogation techniques significantly reduced the amount of “prisoner”
communication confined to name, rank, military number, and date of birth (from
24% to 0% in the lecture group and from 61% to 5% in the experiential pretraining group). More importantly, the indirect strategy (as opposed to a direct
one) also increased the percentage of compromising statements revealed by the
“prisoners” from 22% to 37% in the lecture group and from 0% to 15% in the
experiential pre-training group (Laberg, Eid, Johnsen, Eriksen, and Zachariassen,
2000).
New-Age Technologies
Although the social sciences provide a rich menu of proven or promising
influence strategies, researchers always look for ways to achieve results more
quickly, more efficiently, or more covertly. Two influence strategies in the genre
of “new-age technologies” have attracted the interest of some persons involved
in interrogation training: neurolinguistic programming (NLP) and subliminal
persuasion.
NLP
A blend of linguistics and psychology, NLP is more of a system of
communication than a psychological theory. NLP has many facets, but the claims
that have garnered the most attention from interrogators are the claimed ability
to unconsciously develop a powerful rapport with another person that would
virtually bring that person under a hypnotic spell, and the ability to understand
and read people’s internal mental processes by listening to the sensory words they
use and by observing their eye movements.
Since NLP was first introduced in the 1970s, many research studies in the
United States and Europe have sought to prove or disprove some of NLP’s claims.19
Almost none of the studies examining the effects of unconscious (covert) NLP
rapport-building techniques such as pacing and mirroring have found that NLP
techniques carry significant advantages. In studies where NLP strategies had a

19
A large database of abstracts from NLP articles and studies can be retrieved at:
http://www.nlp.de/cgi-bin/research/nlp-rdb.cgi?action=res_entries.

26

positive effect on rapport, they tended to be no more effective than traditional
listening skills taught to beginning counselors. In essence, research has failed to
substantiate claims that NLP creates nearly magical powers of influence.
Other work has examined NLP’s theory that people possess mental capabilities
and perform mental operations according to a “primary representational system”
(i.e., visual, auditory, or kinesthetic) that is reflected in their language and eye
movements. NLP posits that observations of a person’s eye movements can reveal
how the person is mentally accessing or representing the experience of their
response. Some interrogation trainers have applied these principles as though
they might also be useful indicators of deception. The preponderance of empirical
research, however (even by “believers” in NLP) has failed to produce strong
evidence for the existence of primary representational systems or for the claimed
associations between eye movement patterns and internal mental processing. A
1987 National Research Council panel concluded that: “The committee finds no
scientific evidence to support the claim that neurolinguistic programming is an
effective strategy for exerting influence.”20 No credible scientific studies since
that time would substantially modify that conclusion.
Subliminal Persuasion
Subliminal persuasion has also been of interest to those concerned with
strategies for interpersonal influence. Subliminal messages are defined as
those delivered “beneath the threshold of conscious awareness.” Particularly
since the Korean War, theories have emerged that people may be receptive to
messages that they barely notice (or do not notice) and that these messages can
shape behavior. If, in fact, persuasive messages can be perceived and can affect
behavior without the subject’s awareness, this approach could have application
to managing uncooperative sources without coercion (albeit, with its own set of
ethical dilemmas).
For more than 30 years marketing researchers have studied the ability of
various subliminal advertising (persuasive) stimuli to affect the behavior of
potential consumers. However, Nick Epley of Cornell University, a leading
researcher in the area of subliminal persuasion, concludes simply that “the resulting
body of work…has produced far from impressive results….” Similarly, research
evaluations of audio material with subliminally embedded messages (such as those
promoting self-esteem or weight loss) have shown that they produce no effects
beyond what people expect to experience (Greenwald, Spangenberg, Pratkanis,
and Eskenazi, 1991; Pratkanis, 1992). Eight years later, another review (Moore
and Pratkanis, 2000) reported that “recent scientific evidence continues to support
our original appraisal that actions, motives, and beliefs are NOT susceptible to
manipulation through the use of briefly (i.e., subliminally) presented messages or

20
Enhancing Human Performance: Issues, Theories and Techniques, Report of the Commission
on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education (Washington, DC: The National Academies Press,
1988), 21.

27

directives. If anything the case against subliminal manipulation is stronger now
than ever…” (2nd paragraph).

Overcoming Resistance
One of the central features of educing information in intelligence-gathering
contexts is that the human source, at least initially, may be uncooperative or
unwilling to provide what is requested. That unwillingness is generally regarded
as “resistance,” although the term has a variety of specific meanings.
The previous section noted that resistance may actually increase if a source
feels coerced. Research (Brehm 1966; Brehm and Brehm, 1981) suggests that
two factors determine the strength of resistance: (1) the number and importance
of the freedoms that are threatened and (2) the nature of that threat. Threats that
are perceived to lack legitimacy (arbitrary), and are more blatant (rather than
subtle), direct (rather than indirect), and demanding (rather than delicate) tend
to evoke more resistance. For example, anecdotal case analyses of actual police
interrogations have shown psychologic reactance-like effects where subjects
respond to pressure and negative feedback by becoming less suggestible and less
compliant (Gudjonsson, 1995).
Most persuasion researchers focus on inducements and Alpha strategies
for interpersonal influence (see the discussion under “Influence Strategies”).
Knowles and Linn have produced some of the most relevant results and
potentially important road markers for the next generation of knowledge on
how to manage resistance to social influence. Their findings (Knowles and Linn,
2004) suggest that it is possible to minimize a person’s motivation to resist being
influenced. These findings have direct implications for persons involved in
educing information from uncooperative sources. They recently proposed seven
categories of Omega Persuasion Strategies, noting that the list is likely neither
inclusive nor exhaustive.
I. Sidestep Resistance
The best way to handle resistance is not to raise it. To accomplish that in
an interrogation context, however, is almost impossible. Nevertheless, there may
be ways to minimize or reduce its intensity or natural escalation. One possible
strategy is to redefine the relationship between agent and target. For example,
salespeople have reframed their roles as consultants engaged in a long-term
(beyond the sale), collaborative relationship with the buyer (client). People may
feel less need to be wary of a consultant than a salesman (Knowles, Butler, and
Linn, 2001; Knowles and Linn, 2004).
A second approach is to depersonalize the interaction. Rather than offering
directives, suggestions, or persuasive arguments, an agent might talk about a
parallel situation or may even develop a metaphor. Other suggested strategies
to sidestep resistance are to minimize the request (Freedman and Fraser, 1966)
by beginning with small and less-threatening requests; propose a less desirable
alternative (which accounts for the dynamic underlying the good cop/bad cop

28

technique; Rafaeli and Sutton, 1991); or push the choice into the future, because
distant prospects are more optimistic and less driven by “avoidance” forces
(Knowles and Linn, 2004).
II. Address Resistance Directly
Another category of approaches seeks to reduce resistance by addressing or
assuaging its causes directly. This might be done either by offering some guarantee
that the most feared outcome will not occur or by arguing against the reasons for
the target’s resistance.
III. Address Resistance Indirectly
Alternatively, one could choose to address resistance in a more indirect way
by removing the “need” for resistance. One strategy is to bolster the target’s sense
of competence and self-esteem (Jacks and O’Brien, 2004); another is to focus
the resistance by casting the target in a different social role, such as that of the
expert.
IV. Distract Resistance
Distraction can also reduce resistance. Resistance requires some attention
to be optimally effective. Petty and Cacioppo (1986) have proposed a model
of attitude change called the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM). The basic
premise is that when people have both motivation and ability, they prefer to
process a persuasive message through a “central route” in which the response
derives from a careful analysis of the message quality. A mild distraction can
occupy the target’s attention, thereby diminishing his/her resources available to
counter-argue or otherwise critically analyze the quality of the message (Haaland
and Venkatesan, 1968; Petty and Brock, 1981; Knowles and Linn, 2004).
V. Disrupt Resistance
One of the most fascinating — and potentially promising — categories
of counter-resistance strategies involves disruption. As with the distraction
strategies, the goal of disruption is to occupy the resistance process so that the
persuasive message is delivered without hindrance. Disruption — as the term
is used here — differs from an external distraction such as a loud noise. Instead,
the disruption is delivered as part of the message, but is designed to create mild
and momentary confusion (for example, by transposing “Code of Conduct” into
“Conduct of Code”). According to the research, confusion reduces resistance, and
can be a particularly effective tool of influence when combined with a follow-up
persuasive message (reframe). Some studies have determined that the disruption
must be mild and must occur before the reframing to get the desired effect.
Obviously, it could be nearly impossible to implement such a subtle strategy
when communicating through a translator, but the effects of the technique shown
to date mark it as worthy of further consideration.

29

VI. Consume Resistance
A longstanding maxim of interrogation training is that “every man has his
breaking point.” In the social science literature, the concept that comes closest to
that of breaking is regulatory depletion, which postulates that the human capacity
to control one’s own responses (self-regulation) draws on a finite and limited
resource. Regulation requires effort and that effort uses up some of a person’s
regulatory energy, so that less is available for subsequent responses (Muraven,
Tice and Baumeister, 1998, 775).
Existing research suggests that one common and modestly sized store of
energy fuels any and all forms of regulatory activity. Theoretically, then, one’s
regulatory capacity could be entirely depleted. However, repeated cycles of
exertion and restoration may serve to strengthen regulatory capacity and perhaps
make subjects more resilient (Baumeister, Muraven, and Tice, 2000; Strayhorn,
2002); thus, overwhelming or depleting a person’s resistance in the short term
may be theoretically possible, but may impose a cost in the longer term.
VII. Use Resistance to Promote Change
Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time, and it
annoys the pig.
One of the most intriguing approaches to getting past resistance is to use it.
The theory and concepts behind the idea of using resistance draw from several
sources, including the work of psychotherapists Victor Frankl and Milton Erickson,
who used unconventional strategies (for example, telling an insomniac to try to
stay awake) to bypass their patients’ resistance and effect therapeutic change
(Weeks and L’Abate, 1982). Examples include what is popularly called “reverse
psychology”; the professional term commonly ascribed to this technique is
“paradoxical intention.” Other studies suggest that acknowledging (or preempting)
resistance can help to reduce it, for example, by preceding a persuasive message
by saying something like: “I know you’re determined not to listen to anything I say,
but…” When this works, it appears that the target resists the acknowledgement or
suggestion of resistance (Linn and Knowles, 2002).
Although Hans Gerz (Frankl, 1967) is said to have claimed that paradoxical
intention is successful in 80–90% of cases, many of the documented successes
are anecdotal and are ascribed to a small cadre of “master” therapists. Findings
garnered over the last 15 years suggest that these techniques may only work for
people who are inclined to resist direct suggestions.
Implications
Research findings support the idea that different strategies may be required
for different sources (and maybe even under different conditions). In a context in
which information is being educed, different sources will have different degrees
of, and strategies for, resisting. An educer must constantly assess and monitor

30

the source to develop insight that can inform plans and strategies for educing
information.

Factors Affecting Accuracy
Educing information from a human source requires some understanding
of how people in general acquire, process, store, and retrieve information.
Without this knowledge, it is possible to misinterpret or even contaminate stored
information so that not even the source can any longer discern the “real truth.”
There is a common misconception that the human mind acts like a video
recorder, capturing all experiences exactly as they occur and storing them in a
cortical archive until they need to be retrieved. To put it charitably, such a model
over-estimates and mischaracterizes both the nature and capacity of human
information processing. Perceiving, storing, and retrieving information are active
mental processes. A multitude of factors at any of these three levels can affect a
person’s ability to acquire information, and to retrieve and represent it accurately
(e.g., Neisser and Winograd, 1988; Roediger, 1996; Schacter, 1995).
Perception
Humans do not passively record events as they occur in the environment.
Rather, they are active gatherers and processors of sensory information. They
selectively attend to certain elements while filtering out others, all the while
actively interpreting their possible meanings and interrelationships.
Perceptions become the assumed reality on which people operate. This
has a number of important implications for educing information. First, the
educer can control many facets of the source’s detention and confinement in
a way that “constructs” the source’s perception and construal of his situation.
These constructions can facilitate or inhibit the source’s motivation to provide
information. Second, however, the educer must recognize that the desired
information, as stored in the source’s mind, is a product of his or her construction
of it, not necessarily of how it existed in its original form.
Memory
The “modal model” of memory is one of the most widely used contemporary
frameworks for understanding the elements of human memory processing. The
model posits three stages of memory. The first is sensory memory, in which
stimuli are only momentarily registered to facilitate perception. The second is
short-term memory (STM) or what some call “working memory.” The function of
STM is simply to hold information while it is being processed (to be eliminated
or transferred to long-term memory). The third stage is long-term memory (LTM).
Scholars debate whether information in LTM is permanent or not.
Just as human perceptions are constructed, rather than recorded, memories
themselves are “reconstructions” (Bartlett, 1932). A substantial body of research
shows that event memories can be altered by information inserted or suggested in
attempts to retrieve them (Loftus, Miller, Burns, 1978; Loftus, 1979; Loftus and

31

Ketcham, 1994; Roediger and McDermott 1995). One proposed cause of these
errors is difficulty in distinguishing the “source” of a given unit of information;
an inconsistent distinction separates information acquired internally (in one’s
head) from externally (actual experience). Moreover, stress, even at moderate
levels, has been found to impair memory recall (de Quervain et al., 2000; Henson,
Shallice, and Dolan, 1999; Lupien et al., 1998; Nadel and Jacobs, 1998; Payne,
Nadel, Allen, Thomas, and Jacobs, 2002).
Accuracy of Educed Information
A variety of factors such as stress, fatigue, distraction, and intoxication
can impair the capacity to retrieve and perceive memories accurately. At the
extreme, for example, there is a significant social science literature addressing
the apparently rare, but disturbing, issue of people confessing to crimes they did
not commit. The most critical implications for intelligence are that interrogation
tactics can lead the source to provide information that is inaccurate (intentionally
or unintentionally) even though the information may seem to conform to the
interrogator’s expectations, and also that the process of interrogation itself can
affect a source’s ability to recall known information accurately.
One distinction between interrogations conducted in LE and intelligence
contexts is that the primary objective in most U.S. law enforcement interrogations
is to obtain a confession rather than to educe information. The presumption or
expectation of guilt at the outset of an interrogation has been shown to influence
interrogators’ questioning strategy and cause them to exert more pressure to
confess. It also affects the interrogator’s inferences and judgments about the
suspect’s guilt.
This body of research underscores the importance of obtaining not merely
information through education, but specifically accurate and useful information.
It also provides a sobering reminder that some eduction methods — such as
inducing stress, fatigue, distraction, and intoxication — have the potential to
affect not only a source’s motivation to provide accurate, useful information, but
also his capacity to do so.
“Stress and Duress”
Determining what constitutes a “stress and duress” technique is a matter of
some debate. Social science research, however, has studied the effects of certain
techniques that have been used in the past (some quite widely), particularly
those commonly alleged by various groups to produce undue stress and duress
in detainees. True interrogative confession has been modeled as “a complicated
and demanding decision-making process” (Gudjonsson, 1992, 64). Of particular
interest, then, is how those effects might alter an uncooperative individual’s
motivation or capacity to provide accurate, useful information.
Research describes the psychological and emotional effects of strategies
sometimes used to diminish resistance, specifically physical discomfort, sleep
deprivation, and sensory deprivation. None of the studies, however, addresses
definitively whether these tactics indeed diminish resistance to persuasion and

32

influence or promote compliance in populations relevant to this inquiry. One
notable research program (MKULTRA), which ultimately was shut down by the
U.S. government because of ethical concerns, suggested that these techniques
led to changes in behavior, making at least some persons more passive and
pliable. However, although it was designed to inform interrogations, most of the
research was not conducted in the context of interrogation. The 1963 “KUBARK
Counterintelligence Interrogation” Manual reflects some of the perceived
implications of this line of research. Strikingly, since that time very little empirical
research has been conducted on these techniques and the ways in which they may
or may not affect relevant interrogation outcomes.
Torture
Much of the social science research on the issue of torture may not apply to
the process of educing information. The term “torture” is used with very little
consistency in the literature. One basic distinction is between torture used for
punishment and torture used for leverage (to facilitate compliance or to elicit
information). The tactics, effects, and resistance strategies may be quite different
from one type to the next. Research does exist on the social and psychological
consequences of torture (e.g., Somnier et al, 1992) but not on the applicability of
those effects to educing information.
Evidence from social science suggests that there are similarities in the
psychological effects of torture and of internment as a Prisoner of War. Among
the common features are enforced captivity, fear and terror, pain and suffering,
and shame and humiliation. A feeling of powerlessness has been posited as the
central component of humiliation. It is possible that future research about the
experiences of POWs who have been tortured while in captivity in past wars may
help to inform some questions about torture that relate to educing information.
Pain and Physical Discomfort
Although pain is commonly regarded as a facilitator of compliance or
diminisher of resistance, there appears to have been little or no empirical research
addressing these questions. The PsycINFO database contains embedded topic
headings for terms such as “Resistance,” “Aversive Stimuli,” “Pain,” “Attitude
Change,” and Compliance,” yet, there are virtually no “hits” and definitely no
relevant hits for any given pair of these predictor and outcome terms. For example,
among thousands of articles on each topic individually, there are no articles at the
intersection of “aversive stimuli” and “resistance.”
Reports about the treatment of POWs and foreign prisoners in China
documented the use of physical abuse, but studies of the role of assault in
promoting attitude change and in eliciting false confessions (even from U.S.
servicemen) revealed that it was ineffective. Belief change and compliance was
more likely when physical abuse was minimal or absent (Biderman 1960).
Sleep Loss/Deprivation
Sleep loss/deprivation is associated with:

33

•

General cognitive slowing (Dinges and Kribbs, 1991)

•

Impaired attention (Hockey, 1970; Norton, 1970)

•

Diminished concentration (Williams, Lubin, and Goodnow, 1959)

•

Impairment in cognitive functions associated with right anterior
hemisphere or subcortical areas such as motor, rhythm, receptive and
expressive speech, memory, and complex verbal arithmetic functions
(Kim et al., 2001)

•

Impaired decisionmaking involving the unexpected, innovation,
revising plans, competing distractions, and effective communication
(Harrison and Horne, 2000)

•

Reduced capacity for logical and sequential thought (Blagrove,
Alexander, and Horne, 1995; Horne, 1988b; Williams and Lubin, 1967)

•

Decreased accuracy in time estimation, and both immediate and
delayed recall (Taylor and McFatter, 2003)

•

Negative effects on mood (Lieberman et al., 2002)

•

Alteration of the body’s immune system (Everson, 1997)

•

Increased perception of physical pain (hyperalgesia) (Kundermann et
al., 2004)

•

Decreased motivation (Wilkinson, 1961, 1964; Horne and Pettitt, 1985;
Meddis, 1977)

•

Increased suggestibility (Blagrove, Cole-Morgan, and Lambe, 1994;
Blagrove, 1996).

On this last point it is worth noting that suggestibility increases specifically
under conditions simulating an interrogation. At least one study has found that
“the effect on suggestibility of one or two night’s sleep loss is comparable to the
difference in suggestibility between true and false confessors.” (Blagrove, 1996,
p. 57)
Sensory Deprivation
Sensory deprivation is associated with:
•

Impairment in higher mental functions and complex intellectual tasks
(Myers, Murphy, Smith, and Goffard, 1966; Kitamura, 1967)

•

Increased susceptibility to influence (under some conditions) (Myers et
al., 1966)

•

Heightened hypnotic susceptibility (Sanders and Reyher, 1969)

•

Diminished EEG activity correlated with apathetic, lethargic behavior,
and a reduction in stimulation seeking behavior (Scott and Gendreau,
1969)

•

Behaving in a way that is more boring and unlikable (Zuckerman et al.,
1970)

34

•

Increased anxiety and depression (Zuckerman et al., 1970)

•

Greater instability of beliefs and of both peripheral and central attitudes
(Tetlock and Seudfeld, 1976; Seudfeld and Borrie, 1978)

•

Cognitive disorganization (Seudfeld and Borrie, 1978)

•

Increased persuadability (Seudfeld and Borrie, 1978)

•

Increased compliance behavior (beyond usual social influence
conditions) (Moscovici and Doms, 1982)

Key Findings
The review presented above is mainly descriptive. This section highlights
some of the more important findings and their potential implications.
• From the perspectives of both research and practice, educing
information is most productively viewed as a dynamic and reciprocal
process rather than as a discrete event, task, or series of face-to-face
encounters.
• U.S. personnel have used a limited number of interrogation
techniques over the past half-century, but virtually none of them — or
their underlying assumptions — are based on scientific research or have
even been subjected to scientific or systematic inquiry or evaluation.
• The potential mechanisms and effects of using coercive
techniques or torture for gaining accurate, useful information from
an uncooperative source are much more complex than is commonly
assumed. There is little or no research to indicate whether such techniques
succeed in the manner and contexts in which they are applied. Anecdotal
accounts and opinions based on personal experiences are mixed, but the
preponderance of reports seems to weigh against their effectiveness.
• The accuracy of educed information can be compromised by
the manner in which it is obtained. The effects of many common stress
and duress techniques are known to impair various aspects of a person’s
cognitive functioning, including those functions necessary to retrieve
and produce accurate, useful information.
• Psychological theory and some (indirectly) related research
suggest that coercion or pressure can actually increase a source’s
resistance and determination not to comply. Although pain is commonly
assumed to facilitate compliance, there is no available scientific or
systematic research to suggest that coercion can, will, or has provided
accurate useful information from otherwise uncooperative sources.
• Research studies on important related issues such as persuasion,
influence, compliance, and resistance have mainly (although not
exclusively) focused on persons from Western cultures. Findings from the
fields of intercultural psychology and anthropology suggest that patterns,
meanings and modes of interpersonal interaction may be different

35

in non-Western cultures, so there is not yet a clear scientific basis to
anticipate that results and insights will apply equally or evenly across
cultures. Moreover, many encounters involving information eduction
in intelligence-gathering contexts occur through translators. While
there is good reason to suspect that the effects and/or implementation
of interpersonal strategies may be different when using a translator as a
conduit for communication, the exact nature and extent of that impact on
educing information has not been scientifically determined.
• A moderately strong body of social science research provides
a potential road map to a new generation of strategies and approaches
for overcoming resistance without the use of high-pressure, coercive
techniques.
• Social science research on persuasion and interpersonal
influence could provide a foundation for creating an elegant, elaborate,
and powerful U.S. approach for educing information in intelligencegathering contexts.

Summary Highlights
What models exist for educing information from uncooperative sources?
Constructing a conceptual model of “U.S.” information eduction could
provide a platform to label and identify actors, elements, actions, dynamics, and
effects to describe and conceptualize the process. The field of persuasive message
production offers some relevant research methods, while negotiation theory
offers principles and provides a language and interest-based perspective that are
not overtly adversarial.
What strategies might increase or decrease a source’s willingness to provide
information?
Considerable social science literature on persuasion and influence may be
relevant to the development of processes for educing information. The six most
consistent factors affecting interpersonal influence are reciprocity, scarcity, liking,
authority, commitment/consistency, and social validation. Fear can sometimes
be a motivator when apprehension is high and the recommended behavior is
believed to be highly effective. People who believe they are being coerced are
likely to feel disrespected and become less likely to comply or cooperate. Neither
neurolinguistic programming nor subliminal suggestion appears to be an effective
or promising agent of influence.
What is resistance and what strategies exist for getting past it?
Resistance is a common reaction to influence or compliance attempts. The
social science literature identifies numerous strategies to help overcome it. They
include sidestepping it, addressing it directly, addressing it indirectly, distracting
it, disrupting it, consuming it, or using it.

36

What key factors affect the accuracy of educed information?
The mind does not operate like a video camera. Perceiving, storing, and
retrieving information are active mental processes. A multitude of factors at any
of these three levels — including questioning strategies — can affect a person’s
ability (not just willingness) to acquire information and to retrieve and represent
it accurately.
What is known about the effect of “stress and duress” techniques for
educing accurate, useful information?
Social science research describes the psychological and emotional effects of
strategies sometimes used to diminish resistance, specifically physical discomfort,
sleep deprivation, and sensory deprivation. Generally speaking, the stress and
fatigue produced under these conditions can impair the capacity to accurately
retrieve and perceive memories. None of the studies, however, addresses
definitively the issue of whether these tactics do indeed diminish resistance to
persuasion or influence, or promote compliance in relevant populations. Although
pain is commonly expected to facilitate compliance or diminish resistance, little
or no empirical research has addressed this topic.

37

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3
Research on Detection of Deception
What We Know vs. What We Think We Know
Gary Hazlett, Psy.D.
November 2005

Abstract
This review examines the scientific literature regarding our current capacity to detect deception by observing behavioral indicators and identifies additional research that might improve that capacity. It focuses on methods
that can be used in person-to-person communication without extensive technological support. The findings indicate that common beliefs about reliable
cues to deception are frequently incorrect, and that research in this area to
date may be largely irrelevant to national security needs. The study recommends that the United States adopt an aggressive, focused plan to support
research and development of enhanced capabilities to validate information
and the veracity of sources. Such a plan should concentrate on understanding actual behavior and should prioritize projects on the basis of operational
needs, operational realities, cost, and potential return on investment.

Introduction
The capacity of the United States to engage in effective intelligence
collection and counterterrorism operations has historically been handicapped by
the relatively low quantity and quality of human source intelligence available to
inform planning and decision-making.
In response, the U.S. government has decided to increase significantly the
number of human intelligence collectors operating in the field. However, more
collectors will not by themselves produce real improvements in performance. New,
more effective tactics, techniques, and procedures, along with better training, are
also necessary. Specifically, the Intelligence Community must improve its abilities
to develop information from human sources through debriefing, elicitation, and
interrogation efforts. Despite the best efforts of dedicated human intelligence
collectors, the Intelligence Community has become highly dependent upon
technical means for breakthroughs in intelligence collection.

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Background
Our adversaries are often more sophisticated now than in the past and the U.S.
advantage in high-tech surveillance capabilities has diminished over the years.
Both practical and political considerations account for past trends away from
development and use of human sources for intelligence collection and toward
substantial reliance upon imagery and communications interception technology.
First and foremost, this approach worked; in fact, for many years, it worked
extremely well. It leveraged the huge technological and financial advantages of
the United States over most of the rest of the world, providing data collection
capabilities that allowed the Intelligence Community access almost anywhere it
cared to look. Unfortunately (in this context), the technological disparity between
countries has grown narrower. As a result, our competitors and adversaries better
understand our capabilities, which allows them to develop countermeasures that
have diminished the return on our technology-based collection methods.
Our adversaries are different than in the past. While it still remains almost
impossible for another nation to move an armored division without being
seen, high-tech surveillance systems offer relatively little capacity to track the
movements of individuals belonging to a terrorist organization.
Given the dispersed nature and small size of terrorist organizations, direct
interaction with people is required to develop the kinds of information needed
to inform and direct intelligence operations. The challenge is to identify when
information and sources developed through human contact are valid.
Determining Veracity
Methods of detecting when an individual is attempting to deceive a listener
constitute a primary basis for assessing the potential utility and validity of
information obtained from human sources. A significant amount of scientific
study has focused on this topic. Overall, data to this point suggest that for all
groups, novice to professional, accuracy in determining when someone is being
deceptive is only marginally better than chance.1-22
The two primary approaches to detecting deception rely on psychophysiological
and behavioral indicators. Psychophysiological methods involve monitoring and
assessing physiological reactions to events; for instance, through use of heart rate
and function monitors23-26, skin conductance sensors,27,28 thermal photography,
voice frequency analysis29, and brain activation patterns measured via electronic
wave patterns 30-33 or via magnetic resonance imaging, etc. Detailed examinations
of these and other methods appear elsewhere in the literature16,34,35 or within papers
sponsored through the current study on educing information, such as the study by
Heckman and Happel in this document.
The present review covers scientific findings regarding our current capacity
to detect deception by using behavioral indicators: all actions, statements, or
responses that another person can reasonably monitor through observation. It
focuses only on those methods that can be used in person-to-person communication,
without the aid of extensive technological support. While technologically based

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methods are potentially valuable tools in some settings, the human collector
remains the most deployable and adaptable tool that can be put in the field.
Moreover, pragmatic considerations frequently make application of more complex
or elaborate technologies impractical or impossible. The review also suggests
additional research to enhance the ability to detect deception.

Cues to Deception
Beliefs vs. Reality
People who adopt the belief that there are reliable cues to deception are
frequently incorrect. Significant research has studied people’s beliefs about
indicators that someone is being deceptive and their own attitudes and confidence
about their personal ability to be deceptive. A summary of 57 studies examining
beliefs about nonverbal cues to deception indicated that many people do not
actually know what they think they know: in other words, their beliefs are
just as often wrong as they are right.36 These patterns of erroneous beliefs are
widespread and are found equally among professional interrogators/investigators
and novices.7,37-40
Research into beliefs and attitudes about deception may have value for
predicting how people might try to conceal deception on the basis of their own
beliefs about cues to deception. This research may also facilitate the identification
of erroneous beliefs that intelligence collectors may hold and that should be
corrected in training. However, the study of attitudes and beliefs does not in
itself provide information on which cues to deception actually work. Therefore,
this line of research may at best provide indirect support to the development of
effective and reliable methods for detecting deception.
Most behavioral research discusses indicators of deception in terms of
nonverbal, paralinguistic, and verbal behaviors. The literature also contains global
judgments of behavior that may potentially have some utility.
Nonverbal Behavioral Cues
Most nonverbal cues to deception do not appear useful. To succeed at
deception, individuals must control the information that they provide. People can
generally exercise control over what they say; therefore, verbal output is subject
to considerable crafting on the part of the individual attempting to be deceptive.
The literature assumes that nonverbal behavior is more likely to fall outside a
subject’s full awareness and thus may provide a better source of cues for detecting
deception. (Yet, as noted below, verbal cues may actually offer some insight.) For
the purposes of this review, nonverbal behaviors encompass all those observable
behaviors that may or may not accompany language, such as body movements,
gestures, posture, eye gaze, etc.
A recent extensive review of the literature compiled the results from 116
research reports involving 120 independent subject samples.41 This analysis
identified 158 cues to deception, but indicated that most of the nonverbal
behaviors studied proved ineffective and unreliable as indicators. Popularly held
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beliefs as to what might be effective cues to deception included behaviors such
as gaze aversion or level of eye contact; movements of the legs, feet, head and
trunk; shifting body positions; and “covering gestures” such as placing a hand
over the mouth while talking, ear tugging, etc. None of these was rigorously
substantiated by the research, although a small subset demonstrated reasonable
power. They included fewer hand and finger movements while talking, fewer
illustrating gestures accompanying speech, dilation of the pupils,42 and some
elements of a system developed by Ekman and associates 43,44 for evaluating
subtle, small, and short-lived shifts in facial expression. However, analysis
of microfacial expressions and pupillary dilation generally requires the use of
recording equipment and represents methods that may not be practicable for field
operatives.
Verbal Cues
We should listen closely to what people say. Verbal cues to deception
involve what people actually say, i.e., the content of their communication.
Researchers have attempted to develop methods for evaluating verbal behaviors
more systematically.45 Two approaches frequently cited are Statement Validity
Assessment and Reality Monitoring, both of which have been extensively
reviewed by Vrij.36 Overall, these methods seek to validate statements on
the assumption that true statements differ from fabricated ones in a variety of
significant dimensions.41,46
Statement Validity Assessment involves the use of criteria-based content
analysis,47, 48 which attempts to provide some common methodology for evaluating
the content of verbal communications. These criteria include analyses of the logic
and structure of verbal reports along with the presence or absence of various
types of details, context, and spontaneous, qualitative evaluations by the speaker
of his or her own recall. Reality Monitoring attempts to determine the validity of
statements by assessing the clarity and realism of a story, along with contextual
information that indicates the presence or absence of details that link elements
of time, space, and sensory perceptions with the primary content of a subject’s
story.49 These techniques were originally developed to gauge whether allegations
by children represented true statements, but laboratory studies using college
students indicated that they could also be used with adults. Over time they were
used to assess the likely truthfulness of statements made by criminal defendants
vs. victims. The most recent analysis of their effectiveness, conducted by Vrij, 46
was restricted to field studies involving real-world criminal cases.
The results of studies on verbal behavioral cues appear rather positive.
Generally, they indicate that deceptive narratives contained less content (e.g., fewer
overall details, fewer unusual details, less contextual and sensory information,
fewer quotations or descriptions of interactions), more logic problems (e.g.,
unstructured reproductions, less logical structure, less plausible relations), and
differences in the subjects’ expressed evaluations of their own stories (e.g., less
expressed self-doubt, fewer tentatively phrased statements, more absolutely

48

negative statements or complaints, fewer spontaneous corrections to the story,
and lower frequencies of admitting to lack of clear recall). 36 41, 46
The same set of reviews, involving analysis of over 150 studies, suggested
that several criteria used in both the Statement Validity Assessment and Reality
Monitoring failed to differentiate true from false statements. These criteria
included the degree of apparent complexity in statements, the presence of
unexpected complications, self references, reports of subjective mental states,
superfluous details, and descriptions of verbal and nonverbal interactions. Taken
as a whole, neither the criteria set from the Statement Validity Assessment nor
the Reality Monitoring approach appears sufficiently reliable and valid to serve
as a unitary technique for evaluating the veracity of subject statements.36,46-48,50-53
However, some of the component elements show promise.
Paralinguistic Cues
Most paralinguistic cues do not appear to be effective; however, voice stress
analysis may merit further investigation. Paralinguistic cues encompass all those
behaviors associated with the production of speech but separate from the actual
content. As with nonverbal cues, the results appear rather disappointing. The rate at
which subjects speak, the presence of various disturbances suggesting uncertainty
(e.g., “ums” and “ahs”), the length of verbal response, various kinds of pauses,
response latency, and loudness do not appear to be reasonable cues to deception.41
However, the amount of time spent talking in a response, higher voice pitch, or
other indications of voice tension appear to be potentially useful cues. Again, the
changes in pitch or indications of voice tension have generally been sufficiently
small that the unaided ear cannot discriminate them reliably. Previous reviews of
voice stress technologies soundly criticized their reliability and validity.29 Despite
this, recurrent positive findings in this area36,41,54,56 may suggest that voice stress
analysis may have been dismissed prematurely.
Global Judgments
Focusing on specific cues to deception may actually narrow an observer’s
focus to the point of neglecting data that could be important for validating the
source or the information itself. Instead of relying on the presence or absence
of a specific cue to deception, some research has recorded global judgments
of observers who are asked to synthesize their observations and assess subject
behavior. These synthesized assessments show some promise in differentiating true
vs. fabricated statements.41,57 Specifically, people who were accurately identified
as being deceptive were more likely to have been assessed by observers as less
cooperative, more uncertain, more nervous, more ambivalent, more inconsistent
in content presentation, less friendly or pleasant, and more expressive facially.
Moderator Variables
Many other variables may have an impact on our capacity to detect
deception effectively. Examples of relevant research include studies on the impact
of interviewer and interviewee personality characteristics,58,59,60,61,62,63 expectancy
effects,13,64 social biases,65-67 and interviewer and interviewee confidence,68,69 to

49

name a few. These studies highlight the very complex nature of this problem and
the need for substantially more research on these moderator variables.
Promising Avenues
Alternative methods are emerging and merit study. Some research efforts
have started to explore new methods for validating information. They include the
use of probability theory to assess choice patterns, covert physiological sensor
systems to assist observers in real time, challenges to story construction based
on memory research,41,70 and intentional distortion methodology to assess report
stability vs. malleability.
Limitations of Current Research Findings
To this point, this review might suggest that some practical means are
available to assist intelligence personnel in validating sources and information.
Unfortunately, shortcomings in the research designs that tested these indicators
dictate caution in relying upon these means at this point.
Motivational/Stress Problem
Most research subjects are relatively calm and undermotivated and do not
represent the populations of interest. In real life, any interrogation situation
is likely to cause high levels of physiological arousal and distress in innocent
and guilty parties alike. Individuals who attempt to conceal information in real
situations probably have a high level of motivation to deceive successfully. It is
almost impossible to obtain the same levels of motivation and arousal in volunteer
subjects. With the exception of field studies developed from real-world situations,
most of the research conducted to date entails little or no stress or true incentive
to deceive effectively: of 120 samples in the DePaulo analysis,41 68 samples were
classified as using subjects who were under no stress. Researchers are acutely
aware of this problem and have sought to develop laboratory situations that entail
some degree of distress or arousal in subjects, but for the most part they have been
unable to sample behavior involving moderate to higher ranges of motivation
and arousal. It is not known whether these higher levels would result in different
patterns of response, although that assumption seems logical.71
In most studies, individuals serving as observers/judges are asked to make
assessments that have little personal significance. This situation is unlike that
facing an intelligence collector, who would generally be highly motivated to
obtain information.
Sampling Problems
Subject Sampling
Research has not looked at enough of the right kind of people. Most studies
(over 80 percent) have used college students, while those in applied settings
generally involve incarcerated criminals. The resultant problem is obvious. College
students tend to be drawn from the upper end of the intellectual range, are more
likely to come from relatively affluent socioeconomic backgrounds, and are much

50

younger and more limited in life experience than the populations of interest in the
national security context. While criminal populations may make generalization of
findings more reasonable for law enforcement personnel, they present limitations
for the intelligence collector. The population of criminals in the United States
consists disproportionately of individuals in the low average range of intelligence
or worse. In addition, criminals as a group are likely to have substantially more
experience in interrogation/questioning situations than the rest of the population.
Law enforcement may be at the point of developing real capabilities to work with
below-average intelligence criminals and academic researchers may have a good
understanding of above-average intelligence college students, but these results
may have only limited relevance to intelligence collection.
Most studies also used a relatively small sample size, with an average of 40
subjects per study.41 Such small samples may allow validation of only the most
powerful cues and may discount many moderately effective ones.
Behavior Sampling
Most studies typically use very short snippets of data — commonly less
than 1 minute — whereas in a real-world situation an interviewer may observe
a subject over a much longer time frame, with the option of repeated contacts.
Therefore, results to date may only reflect those variables that have efficacy in
that short time frame.
Most studies involve people in an observer role who watch a tape of someone
being questioned. In real-world applications, the people responsible for detecting
deception are likely to be participating in the exchange and to be working by
themselves. Research suggests that in the participant mode detection success is
likely to be below 50%, or at the level of chance.72,73
Finally, much of the research uses a 50/50 paradigm, wherein the base rate of
true vs. false reports is equal. The likelihood that this reflects reality seems small.
Our results to date may thus represent a skewed construction of the real-world
problem.
Cross-Cultural Representation
We know almost nothing about how our current methods work with various
Asian, Middle Eastern, Central and South American, or African populations.
Research to date has focused primarily on samples drawn from modern, Western
countries (primarily the United States and Europe), with a few studies involving
Jordanian,74, 75 Saudi,58 Chinese,76,77 and Japanese78,79 subjects. Of all the limitations
in the existing body of research literature, this is the most troubling. In the DePaulo
review of studies involving 120 samples, 101 were drawn from the United States
or the United Kingdom and only 4 came from non-Western cultural groups.41 Thus,
from the standpoint of intelligence gathering, they do not address the populations
of interest and utility. Although Ekman and his associates hold that microfacial
expression changes represent a fairly universal phenomenon.80,81,82 there is little
evidence to suggest the existence of universals in nonverbal and paralinguistic
behaviors across cultures. This absence of universals may also hold true even for

51

speech content analysis.77 Until a technique can be reasonably evaluated with a
specific cultural group, it would be unwise to assume that technique has utility
with that group.

Summary of Findings
We do not really know what we think we know. Overall, knowledge of
behavioral indicators that might assist in the detection of deception is very limited
and provides little reliable information that could assist intelligence collectors
operating anywhere outside the United States or Europe. Despite some progress
in the ability to assess common criminals, results gleaned from the domestic
population of criminals and college undergraduates may help us little in dealing
with uncooperative detained soldiers or committed and possibly resistance-trained
followers of radical movements.
Very little is actually known about current populations of interest. In addition,
this review failed to locate a single study examining the impact on deception
detection of using interpreters/translators in questioning subjects. There is little
reason to assume that data generalize across cultures, particularly Third World
populations.
The severe methodological shortcomings in research to date should lead us to
question whether what we think works really does, or what we think doesn’t work
indeed does not. Existing research results, drawn from non-stressful situations,
may have prompted the premature abandonment of potentially useful methods.

Suggested Approaches
The U.S. government needs to implement an aggressive, focused strategic
plan for supporting behavioral research and developing enhanced capabilities to
validate information and sources. Such a plan should focus on understanding actual
behavior and prioritize projects on the basis of operational needs, operational
realities, cost, and potential return on investment.
Operational Needs
The Intelligence Community should work with field operatives to identify
and prioritize their most important and urgent operational needs and associated
research goals. Examples might include screening public transportation passengers,
improving interrogation techniques and results, validating embassy walk-ins as
legitimate sources, or improving field operatives’ capacity to elicit and validate
information from sources in the field and rebuild a viable human intelligence
capability. The length of time needed to develop and field a method should be one
consideration.
Operational Realities
The primary tool in human intelligence collection is the operative on the
ground. This role necessitates moving within the society of potential sources and
talking to individuals who may or may not be motivated to assist the United States

52

in obtaining information. The practical reality is that this individual cannot carry
around a polygraph machine, an electroencephalogram, or any other elaborate,
bulky equipment. High technology-assisted methods may be appropriate at ports
of entry, where it is possible to control movement and contact with subjects
within a fixed facility, but such technology would be of limited use for most
collection tasks. Moreover, electroencephalograms and magnetic resonance
imaging are often relatively easy to defeat.2,33,83-85 The Intelligence Community
needs to provide operatives the necessary tools and training to work effectively
with contacts on the ground. It is in this environment that behavioral techniques
may have the most potential value.
Cost
High-technology programs naturally cost more to research and field than
behavioral methods.
Return on Investment
The Intelligence Community should consider the research and development
costs, the time it takes to push the results of the investment into the field, and
the potential impact on mission accomplishment. In this light, development of
behavioral methods may have an advantage, given that the near-term cost is low,
the payoffs can be high, and the techniques can be rapidly moved into the field.

Recommendations
The Intelligence Community should follow certain guidelines when
considering how to proceed:
1.

Study actual behavior that may indicate deception, rather than cultural
myths about such indicators. The two are not the same.

2.

Avoid simple replication of the research already conducted. At this point,
we may know as much as we can and need to know about college students
in the United States and Europe. New research should overcome at least
some of the limitations of previous studies outlined earlier.

3.

Insist on targeted populations of interest. The absence of research using
subjects who represent the cultural groups of interest to the Intelligence
Community is the most significant problem with research to date.

4.

Focus on techniques that can be readily taught to the current generation
of field operatives. Even more important, focus on developing techniques
that are practical in terms of the real-world parameters where they will
be applied.

5.

Emphasize field testing to allow rapid assessment, revision, and
adaptation of methods.

6.

Integrate field operations personnel in prioritizing, developing, and
refining new tools. This will ensure a reality check before time, money,

53

and personnel are wasted on concepts that sound good in the laboratory
but often are impractical in the field.
7.

Stay ahead of the competition. The center of mass for research in this
area should not be China,76 Japan2,5,31,78,85,86 or even Israel.2,23 Every
technique has its limitations, and aggressive discovery will also allow
the United States to stay ahead of competitors and provide training and
countermeasures to ensure U.S. personnel retain a field advantage.

8.

Make and maintain a commitment. When the next major terrorist attack
occurs, the government should honestly be able to say, “We did the best
we could.”

54

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4
Mechanical Detection of Deception:
A Short Review
Kristin E. Heckman, D.Sc.
Mark D. Happel, D.Sc.
with the assistance of
Janice R. Ballo, Research Librarian
The MITRE Corporation
November 2005

Abstract
This paper presents a short review of the mechanical methods developed to
detect deception over the past century. The paper is divided into two main
sections, psychophysiological mechanisms and neurological mechanisms,
based on the two primary means of mechanically acquiring the metrics used
to detect deception. Within these two sections, each mechanism and its potential for deployment is described.
The development of a more effective means for detecting deception is predicated on research to build a sound theoretical basis on which to design such
a system. The study finds that, despite the polygraph’s shortcomings, there is
currently no viable technical alternative to polygraphy. While some neuroscience-based alternatives have been proposed, there are significant problems
with these techniques and far more research is needed if they are to become
sufficiently reliable for use in operational settings.

Introduction
Society has long wished to combat corruption, crime, and dishonesty by
using scientific techniques and technologies. The notion that honesty can be
found and identified scientifically has led to the development of a variety of
deception detection mechanisms throughout the last century. The value of some of
these mechanisms is limited, either because the mechanism’s validity has drawn
recurrent rejection (e.g., truth serums) or for policy reasons (e.g., the polygraph).
The need for accurate and reliable means of detecting attempts by individuals
to deceive others, particularly intelligence and law enforcement professionals,
is compelling. Yet it is all too readily apparent that the current technical and

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methodological means for detecting intentional deception by individuals are
inadequate.
Given this need and a century of effort, why has no effective solution been
found to the problem of detecting deception? Myriad opinions have been put forth
to answer this question, but it is clear that this is an exceedingly difficult problem,
in part because of the difficulty of defining the general concept of deception
(Happel, 2005).

Psychophysiological Mechanisms
Psychophysiology is a branch of science that studies subtle physiological
changes (such as respiration and skin surface temperature) that are not readily
evident to either an outside observer or the individual. Researchers study these
changes in autonomic (involuntary) and somatic (somewhat more controllable)
responses to understand the psychological processes of the organism as a whole.
These physiological changes are then used to indicate and differentiate among
these psychological processes.
Needless to say, there is much debate in the scientific community as to the
validity of the assumption that autonomic and somatic responses reflect cognitive
and/or emotional processing. Some evidence supports the link between specific
emotional states and certain physiological responses, such as startle/surprise and
increased periorbital temperature (Pavlidis and Levine, 2002). However, there
is no evidence supporting the assumption that autonomic and somatic responses
reflect intentional deception. Although some of these measurements have been
correlated, to varying degrees, with intentional deception (or, at least, with the
emotional response that generally accompanies such deceptive strategies), there
is no widely accepted scientific theory that demonstrates a causal link between
the cognitive processes involved in deception and the autonomic and somatic
responses measured by mechanisms such as the polygraph. Unanswered questions
remain with regard to individual differences in deception that result from the
impact of individual life experiences on underlying emotional, cognitive, and
social processes. These unanswered questions extend to differences in cultural
and ethnic-based beliefs, attitudes, and practices regarding truth and deception.
These questions must be addressed before significant progress can be made in
using psychophysiological means to detect deception by individuals.
This section discusses several technologies that measure autonomic
and somatic responses to detect deception. These include the polygraph,
electrogastrogram, radar vital signs monitor, facial expressions, eye blinks,
saccades, and fixations, voice stress analysis, thermal imaging, and truth serums/
narcoanalysis. It should be noted that the Department of Defense Polygraph
Institute (DoDPI) is researching several emerging technologies, including laser
Doppler vibrometry (LDV) and Eye Movement Memory Assessment (EMMA).
LDV is a method of remotely measuring and assessing individual physiological
responses to emotional stress. Changes in respiration, cardiovascular activity,
muscle contraction, and body tremor can be measured from a distance of hundreds

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of feet when there is a direct line of sight. EMMA is an eye tracking system that
follows the pattern of a subject’s visual attention to a scene, specifically how the
subject’s eye scans a familiar object versus an unfamiliar object. The DoDPI has
published no review studies to date. These methods may hold promise, but are not
currently ready for deployment.
Polygraph
Subtle bodily changes such as heart rate, blood pressure, and skin resistance
are amplified and recorded onto a multichannel writing instrument known as the
polygraph. The polygraph is typically used in conjunction with one or more of a set
of related tests: the Guilty Knowledge Test (GKT), also known as the Concealed
Information Test (CIT) (Ben-Shakhar and Elaad, 2002); the Comparison Question
Test or Control Question Test (CQT) (Raskin and Honts, 2002); or the Relevant/
Irrelevant Test (RIT) (Iacono, 2000). It should be noted that although the CQT
is the most widely used test in North America, its scientific validity has been
criticized (Gronau et al., 2005; Ben-Shakhar et al., 2002). In contrast, the GKT/
CIT, widely used only in Japan, has been supported as an objective test (Gronau
et al., 2005; Ben-Shakhar et al., 2002).
The typical method of scoring the physiological records is for the polygrapher
to look globally at the charts for a “lie response”: an assumed specific response
pattern uniquely associated with lying. Another, more objective, method of scoring
the charts is to measure the relative magnitude of the responses (Backster, 1962);
that is, when the difference between the relevant and control question response
levels reaches a certain quantitative point, the decision is made to classify the
examinee as deceptive.
The polygraph is the most widely employed technical means for detecting
deception. It is also perhaps the most controversial. Almost since its introduction,
polygraphy and its direct technological ancestors have been the subjects of legal
proceedings and Supreme Court decisions, including the Frye case (Frye v. United
States, 54 App. D.C. 46, 293 F. 1013 [1923, D.C. Cir.], in which the testimony of
polygraph pioneer William Marsten was excluded) and the more recent Scheffer
case (United States v. Scheffer, 523 U.S. 303 [1998]). Ironically, the federal
government relies extensively on the polygraph for forensic investigations and
personnel security, yet the results of polygraph tests are generally inadmissible in
federal courts (Greeley, 2004).
Potential
The accuracy of the polygraph is a matter of controversy. Some researchers
believe that the current system with the CQT is no better than chance (c.f. BenShakhar, 1991; Furedy, 1996; Saxe, 1991). Other researchers estimate the accuracy
at 75% to 80% (i.e., one error, on average, in four to five trials): Elaad and others
(1992) with the GKT/CIT, MacLaren (2001) with the GKT/CIT, and Patrick and
Iacono (1991) with the CQT. Supreme Court Justice John P. Stevens found “a host
of studies that place the reliability of polygraph tests at 85 to 90 percent” (United
States v. Scheffer, 523 U.S. 303, 333, quoted in Greeley, 2004, p. 129).

65

The use of the polygraph for security screening or prescreening has been
particularly controversial. There is little research into the screening application
compared to polygraphy focused on single-issue criminal cases (Iacono, 2000;
Krapohl, 2002). In 1983, the U.S. Congress’s Office of Technology Assessment
concluded that “the available research evidence does not establish the scientific
validity of the polygraph test for personnel security screening” (Office of
Technology Assessment, 1983). Recently, the National Academy of Sciences
published a critical review of the state of the art in polygraphy, in which it
concluded that:
Polygraph testing yields an unacceptable choice for [Department
of Energy] DOE employee security screening between too many
loyal employees falsely judged deceptive and too many major
security threats left undetected. Its accuracy in distinguishing
actual or potential security violators from innocent test takers
is insufficient to justify reliance on its use in employee security
screening in federal agencies (Committee to Review the
Scientific Evidence on the Polygraph, 2002, 6-8).
These findings, particularly those related to error rates (especially the rate
of false positives for innocent subjects) and the lack of basic theoretical support,
lead to the conclusion that polygraphy, as currently implemented in the United
States, is insufficient for meeting the needs of national security via employee/
individual screening. The process and application of polygraph testing can be
further improved, although it cannot currently be determined whether these
improvements will meet national security requirements. However, the use of the
GKT/CIT in conjunction with other psychophysiological measures (such as skin
conductance response, respiration line length, eye blink rate, and finger-pulse
volume) has shown promise in distinguishing between informed and uninformed
subjects (Ben-Shakhar and Dolev, 1996; Ben-Shakhar et al., 1999; Elaad and
Ben-Shakhar, 1997; Timm, 1982; Cutrow et al., 1972). Use of the GKT/CIT for
employee/individual screening would require pre-examination work to acquire
known factual data for the development of relevant item sets to test the subject’s
veracity.
Electrogastrogram
The electrogastrogram (EGG) is a device used to diagnose the improper
functioning of stomach muscles or of the nerves controlling those muscles.
Electrodes placed on the stomach surface measure the electrical waves, or pulses,
as they progress downward from the top of the stomach. The stomach typically
pulses three times per minute.
Two researchers (Hutson, 2005) conducted an experiment to test their
hypothesis that the gastrointestinal tract is uniquely sensitive to mental stress
because of the communication between the central nervous system and the enteric
nervous system. Sixteen subjects were given a set of playing cards and told not
to reveal them. Simultaneous EGG and electrocardiogram (EKG) recordings
were taken as the subjects viewed pictures of playing cards on a computer, and

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responded to questions as to whether the viewed cards matched any of those
in their set of cards. Subjects were instructed to lie only if one of the viewed
cards matched one of the cards in their hand. Subjects were offered $20 for lying
successfully. The result showed that both lying and truth-telling affected cardiac
symptoms; however, only lying was associated with gastric symptoms. The EGG
showed a significant decrease in the percentage of normal gastric slow waves when
the subject was lying that corresponded to a significant increase in the average
heart rate.
Potential
EGG is a non-invasive procedure that usually takes approximately three
hours in a clinical, diagnostic setting. As with the polygraph, EGG recordings
would be subject to artifacts from anxiety and stress that may not result from
intentional deception. EGG measurements are also subject to motion artifacts
(such as respiration, cardiac signals, and possible myoelectrical activity from
other organs) that can spoil the results (Liang et al., 1997). These artifacts can be
removed manually with much subjectivity, or via commercially available signal
processing software run on a personal computer.
The results of the EGG are analyzed by waveform and spectral analysis
methods, thereby requiring a powerful personal computer. It is likely that this
technique would have to be combined with another to increase its accuracy and
reliability in detecting deception. Given that only one study has been conducted
to date using this technique in a deception detection task, more research is needed
to determine the accuracy and reliability of this method.
Radar Vital Signs Monitor
The radar vital signs monitor (RVSM) remotely measures psychophysiological
motion processes such as heartbeat, respiration, and eye blinks using
electromagnetic waves in the gigahertz frequency range. For example, the RSVM
does not sense the actual heartbeat but the motion of the chest and body during
cardiac and respiration cycles (Geisheimer and Greneker, 2000; Geisheimer and
Greneker, 2001).
This technology is the product of several research projects conducted over
the past ten years at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI). Experiments
conducted at GTRI have shown that respiration and heartbeat data can be sensed
from nearly any portion or orientation of the thorax. The RVSM had to be slightly
modified to detect eye blinks. Although the researchers believe other eye motions
may be present in the signals, they produce smaller amplitudes than the eye blinks
(Geisheimer and Greneker, 2000; Geisheimer and Greneker, 2001).
Potential
RVSM technology is non-invasive, portable, and remote. RVSM can
be placed out of the subject’s sight; such covert use of this technology could
diminish the use of countermeasures. However, because of RVSM’s sensitivity in
detecting motion, any stray motions within the sensor’s beam will be measured

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and potentially could interfere with the desired signal. Body movements such
as rocking or swaying could be potential countermeasures to this technology.
Sophisticated signal processing is required to extract the desired signal from
the noise. Potential solutions to these movement countermeasures are being
researched (Geisheimer and Greneker, 2000; Geisheimer and Greneker, 2001).
RVSM transmits at a frequency of 24.1 GHz, where skin reflects
approximately 73% of the wave; the rest of the energy is quickly dissipated in the
first several millimeters of the body. Given radiation safety concerns, the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) radio frequency exposure regulations have
set a maximum permissible exposure level of 1 mW/cm2 averaged over thirty
minutes for a transmission frequency of 24.1 GHz. These exposure limits can
be met at a distance of 12.85 cm from the RVSM transmitter (Geisheimer and
Greneker, 2000; Geisheimer and Greneker, 2001).
Because RVSM technology measures some of the same psychophysiological
responses as the polygraph, it is subject to the same criticisms (see Section 2.1).
Due to the lack of published results in the literature, it appears that researchers
have not yet explored this technology in the context of detecting deception. Given
this lack of scientific validation, RVSM is probably not ready to be deployed.
Facial Expressions
Human emotional responses can be recognized through facial expressions
(Ekman, 1994; Izard, 1994). According to Ekman (1972), a specific set of facial
expressions appears to be generated by the emotions of anger, disgust, fear,
happiness, sadness, surprise, and to a lesser degree contempt, embarrassment,
interest, pain, and shame. Ekman (1972) further states that these emotions are
universally generated and recognized across all cultures. Ekman and Friesen
(1978) developed the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) to measure all visible
facial muscle movements, not just those presumed to be related to emotion, as well
as head and eye movements. In approximately 100 to 300 hours, an individual
can learn to code facial expressions based on the characteristic pattern of bulges,
wrinkles, and movements for each facial Action Unit (AU), as well as to code the
intensity of each AU. Ekman and Friesen (1978) identified forty-four AUs that
can occur singly or in complex combinations.
A review of the literature shows that research into automatic recognition of
FACS AUs is limited (Tian et al., 2003). Deception detection experiments have
only coded FACS AUs manually (Ekman, 1985; Ekman et al., 1991; Frank and
Ekman, 1997). Despite this, the current state of the art is briefly reviewed here. In
2001, two teams (Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh —
referred to as CMU/Pitt, and the University of California, San Diego, and the
Salk Institute — referred to as UCSD/Salk) were tasked to quantitatively analyze
spontaneous facial expressions to estimate AUs (Cohen et al., 2001; Bartlett et
al., 2001). Both teams independently developed a non-intrusive automatic facial
expression recognition system capable of handling non-frontal pose, moderate
out-of-plane head motion, and moderate occlusion from head motion, eyeglasses,
gestures, talking, subtle facial actions, and rapid facial motion. It should be noted

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that neither system was fully automated; each involved some degree of manual
preprocessing. The CMU/Pitt team (Cohen et al., 2001) required less manual
preprocessing than the UCSD/Salk team (Bartlett et al., 2001). Both systems
were tested with spontaneous facial behavior video recorded from a prior study
of deception (Frank and Ekman, 1997). However, no analysis was made of
AUs based on deception/truth-telling conditions. Only two AU categories were
recognized: eye blinks (see the section on “Eye Blinks, Saccades and Fixations”
below) and brow region movement. The CMU/Pitt team recognized AUs in the
brow region with 57% accuracy, and the UCSD/Salk team recognized brow raises
with 91% accuracy and discriminated between brow raises and brow lowering
with 94% accuracy. All of these accuracies were based on agreement with human
coders.
Since these first efforts in 2001, two real-time, fully automated systems have
been developed to recognize facial expressions (Tian et al., 2003; Littlewort et
al., 2004). Both systems classify facial expressions according to the following
emotion categories: happiness, sadness, surprise, disgust, fear, anger, and neutral.
One significant difference in the testing of these two systems is that Littlewort
et al. (2004) tested their system on a group of subjects instructed to generate
a specific series of facial expressions, whereas Tian et al. (2003) tested their
system on subjects looking at other subjects who displayed spontaneous facial
expressions. This difference is relevant for real-world applications because it has
been shown that spontaneous facial expressions differ from posed expressions in
several ways (Ekman, 1991).
Potential
Spontaneous facial expression measures can be recorded non-intrusively,
and without the subject’s awareness, provided there is direct line of sight. The
measures can be made in real time via portable technology (a video camera and
computer system capable of high-speed image processing). However, to date
there has been no research into an automated means of measuring deception on
the basis of facial expressions. Measurements of facial expressions and deception
have been limited to manual coding by trained humans, which is labor intensive,
human-observer dependent, and difficult to standardize. Significant research
efforts are required to determine whether FACS measurements are sufficient for
an automated system to distinguish between truth and deception; that is, whether
measures of additional factors, such as body posture and tone of voice, might be
necessary.
Eye Blinks, Saccades, and Fixations
An eye blink occurs when one or both eyes are closed and opened rapidly.
Ocular movements are typically divided into fixations and saccades. A saccade is
a rapid, intermittent eye movement that occurs when the eyes look quickly from
one thing to another. The human eye saccades because only the central part of the
retina has a high concentration of color-sensitive nerve endings that are capable
of formulating a high-resolution mental map of the scene being viewed. The eye

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fixates when it pauses in a particular position. The resulting series of fixations and
saccades is called a scanpath.
The literature has explored eye blinks and their relationship to cognitive
processes, particularly attention and vigilance; however, only one study of their
relationship to deception has been found. Fukuda (2001) measured subject eye
blinks while performing a guilty knowledge card test using an automatic eye
blink analysis system developed by Matsuo and Fukuda (1996). With this headmounted video recording system, it is possible to identify blinks and their timing
with respect to stimuli, and to analyze the eye blink waveform. Ten subjects were
presented with eight sets of five playing cards, and instructed to select one of the
five cards in each of the eight sets to be the “lie” card. Subjects were then serially
presented with the five cards on a computer display, and pressed a “no” key to
indicate that none of the five cards presented was the card they had selected. The
results showed that subject blink rate pattern discriminated between relevant and
irrelevant stimuli.
The CMU/Pitt team (Cohn et al., 2001; Moriyama et al., 2002) measured and
classified eye blinks with their automated facial expression analysis system. Their
system achieved an overall accuracy of 98%, with 100% accuracy between blinks
and non-blinks, in an analysis of 335 single and multiple blinks and non-blinks.
These accuracies were based on agreement with human coders. The UCSD/Salk
team (see the previous section, “Facial Expressions”) also achieved an overall
accuracy of 98% for detecting blinks (Bartlett et al., 2001). Both of these studies
used spontaneous facial behavior video recorded from a prior study of deception
(Frank and Ekman, 1997) for testing. However, no analysis was made of eye
blinks based on deception/truth-telling conditions.
The literature on saccadic eye movement is similar to the eye blink literature
in that much attention is paid to inferences about cognitive activity, but only
one study of saccadic eye movement and deception has been found. Baker et
al. (1992) studied the horizontal eye movements of ten subjects responding to
autobiographical questions presented via a computer display. The subjects
initially answered all questions truthfully, then were told to lie in response to a
subset of the questions. The authors partitioned subject reaction time into three
components. The first was the time spent reading the questions. This component
did not distinguish between the deception and truth conditions. The second was
the time spent thinking of an answer (i.e., think time). This component identified
lying in five of the ten subjects. The third was the time spent fixating during think
time. The measure of this component was significantly longer for nine subjects
in the deception condition. These results suggest that saccadic eye movements
during response generation are irrelevant to deception. Instead, the amount of
fixation time during think time, when it is assumed that subjects are generating
responses, is more indicative of deception.
Baker and others (Baker et al., 1992) also studied saccadic and fixation
activity during the five-second inter-trial interval (ITI); that is, during the period
of time after which one question has been removed from the computer screen

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and the subject has indicated readiness for the next question, and before the next
question appears on screen. The authors hypothesized that during the ITI, subjects
may be reviewing their answers. Based on their results, the authors rejected this
hypothesis and concluded that the effects of a trial ended with the subject’s
indication of readiness for the next trial.
Potential
Eye blink measurements can be recorded non-intrusively and without the
subject’s awareness, provided there is direct line of sight. The measurements
can then be automatically post-processed, with some minimal amount of manual
preprocessing required. Although this processing (both pre and post) cannot be
conducted in real time, the technology (a video camera and computer system
capable of high-speed image processing) is portable. To date, no research results
suggest any characteristic pattern(s) of eye blinks, saccades, or fixations that
correlate with deceptive behavior. Much more research must be conducted to
determine, first, whether eye behavior is indicative of underlying deception, and
second, the accuracy of systems measuring this behavior in real-world situations
with ethnically diverse individuals.
Voice Stress Analysis
Voice stress analysis (VSA), sometimes called psychological stress
evaluation (PSE), is based on the use of a machine developed in 1964 by Charles
R. McQuiston. Presumably, this machine detects laryngeal micro-tremors in the
voice. When people speak, air is pushed upward from the lungs to the vocal cords.
This causes the vocal cords to vibrate as the air continues to flow upward to the
mouth, through the tongue, teeth, and lips to form speech. According to McQuiston,
the amount of blood in the vocal cords drops as a result of stress and the microtremors disappear. The voice stress analyzer searches for the disappearance of
this normal tremor when the individual speaks (Van Damme, 2001).
VSA was developed because the U.S. Army wanted “a remote lie detector”
as an alternative to the polygraph (i.e., one that did not require physical contact
with the subject’s body). Given that the transmission of these micro-tremors
and the stress occur simultaneously, VSA could be used to analyze a narrative
conversation, not just “yes” or “no” responses (this was considered an additional
advantage over the polygraph). The first VSAs appeared on the market in 1970,
a product of Dektor Counterintelligence and Security, Inc. (McQuiston was one
of its founders). Approximately twelve years later, the Verimetrics system (also
invented by McQuiston) appeared. This system allowed personal computers to
produce charts. The Computer Voice Stress Analyzer (CVSA) appeared on the
market shortly thereafter. The CVSA allowed real-time analysis by eliminating
the need to record on magnetic tape. There have been additional adaptations of
the VSA, such as the Diogenes Voice Stress Analysis System in 1996, Truster in
1997, and Truster Pro/Vericator in 1998.

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Potential
Research has not yet established a consistent relationship between microtremors and deception. Scientific evidence has shown that VSAs are not effective
in detecting deception, and that none of the VSAs has yielded detection rates
above chance levels in controlled situations (Horvath, 1982; Hollien et al., 1987).
A 2002 final report on the investigation and evaluation of VSA technology, funded
by the U.S. Department of Justice, concluded that
It is clearly unlikely that a single measure such as that based
on the CVSA, could be universally successful in assessing
stress (such as that which might be experienced during the
act of deception). However, it is not inconceivable that under
extreme levels of stress, that muscle control throughout the
speaker will be affected, including muscles associated with
speech production. The level and degree to which this change
in muscle control imparts less/more fluctuations in the speech
signal cannot be conclusively determined, since even if these
tremors exist, their influence will most certainly be speaker
dependent (Haddad et al., 2002).
The preliminary results from a comparative analysis of the CVSA, the
Vericator, and the polygraph showed that the CVSA and the Vericator performed
no better than the polygraph in correctly classifying subjects as deceptive. The
Vericator, however, was more accurate than the polygraph in correctly identifying
truthful subjects (Palmatier, 1996). Although VSAs are field deployable, the
results to date suggest that the reliability of VSA technology does not exceed that
of the polygraph.
Thermal Imaging
Microcirculation and changes in underlying muscle activity have an impact
on skin surface temperature (SST). A variety of additional factors, such as
embarrassment and sweating, also effect changes in facial SST. Radiant energy
or natural heat (infrared) emissions from the human body can be measured via a
technique known as thermography. Infrared radiometry can be used to measure
body surface heat non-invasively, that is, via a camera, with no skin contact. The
camera is typically connected to and controlled by a personal computer running
software designed for thermal imaging. This technology allows for real-time,
highly automated data analysis.
Two studies have been published on the use of thermal imaging to measure
facial SST during deception detection tasks. One of these studies was conducted
by the DoDPI in conjunction with a group from Honeywell Laboratories led by
Ioannis Pavlidis. These two groups have produced a series of publications (Ryan
and Pollina, 2002; Pavlidis and Levine, 2001; Pavlidis et al., 2002; Pavlidis, 2004),
all of which appear to be based on the same study originally conducted at DoDPI.
The study used a mock crime scenario in which participants stabbed a mannequin
and stole its money. The papers report different results in regard to the percentage
of correctly identified guilty subjects (subjects who lied about their innocence):
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DoDPI reports 70% (Ryan and Pollina, 2002), Pavlidis (2004) and Pavlidis and
Levine (2001) report 78%, and Pavlidis et al. (2002) report 75% (this is probably
because the papers report a variety of cohort sizes).
This thermal imaging study was conducted in conjunction with a polygraph
examination. According to the DoDPI report, thermal imaging of the eye and nose
facial region, combined with the polygraph, resulted in the highest accuracy rates:
83% for polygraph and SST of the eye and nose regions, compared to 67% for the
polygraph alone. It should be noted that DARPA has funded research conducted by
Pavlidis and others (Murthy et al., 2004; Murthy and Pavlidis, 2005) to measure
breathing function remotely via thermal imaging.
The second study was conducted by Barron Associates, Inc. (BAI) and
researchers from the University of Virginia (Burkholder and Parker, 2005).
However, the results of this study are proprietary, and distribution is limited to
U.S. government agencies only.
Potential
Thermal imaging allows rapid, automated analysis of changes in regional
facial blood flow. It can be conducted non-invasively, covertly, and in real time. A
thorough review of the literature revealed that only two investigations of thermal
imaging and deception have been conducted to date. This suggests that thermal
imaging is an emerging technology requiring more investigation and more peer
review from the scientific community before it is ready for deployment.
Truth Serums/Narcoanalysis
A variety of drugs have been referred to as truth serums: scopolamine, sodium
amytal, and sodium pentothal. All of these drugs inhibit control of the nervous
system and reduce inhibitions. Currently, sodium amytal and sodium pentothal
are used most commonly as anesthetics, and less commonly to recover repressed
memories (Odesho, 2004). However, the three substances are best known as a
result of being administered as “truth drugs” during police interrogations. Their
use in all of these settings is sometimes referred to as narcoanalysis. When
these serums are used, it is assumed that the subject will respond to questions
by providing truthful answers, or at least what the subject believes to be truthful
answers, because the drug makes it difficult for the subject to provide false
information.
Dr. Robert House initiated the use of “truth serum” in the 1920s when
he interrogated two suspected criminals injected with scopolamine (Winter,
2005). During the 1930s the Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory (SCDL) at
Northwestern University conducted experiments with scopolamine, both in the
laboratory and in criminal investigations. This highly visible work lent support
for scopolamine and other drugs in extracting truthful information (Winter, 2005).
Although a number of studies were conducted in the 1940s and 1950s to assess
both the accuracy and veracity of truth serum-derived information, their results
varied significantly (Odesho, 2004). In the decades to follow, truth serums were
used by the U.S. military and intelligence agencies during the Cold War and

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the Korean War to release repressed memories, detect soldier malingering, and
conduct prisoner of war (POW) interrogations (Odesho, 2004). During the 1950s
and 1960s, a U.S. intelligence agency had active programs of developing and
testing drugs with truth serum properties, such as LSD (Select Committee on
Intelligence, 1977).
Potential
Truth serums do not force the subject to tell the truth. Instead, they typically
cause the subject to become more talkative. Thus, although a subject’s inhibitions
have been lowered, there is no guarantee that any of the information elicited will
be accurate. Given that none of these substances has been shown to be 100%
effective in obtaining truthful information, there has been much dispute regarding
the legality and ethical implications of their use. State v. Pitts was a precedentsetting case on the admissibility of sodium amytal interview evidence. The New
Jersey Supreme Court concluded in 1989 that:
This evidence [sodium amytal] was excluded by the trial court.
The Court now predicates its approval of the trial court’s
exclusion of this evidence on two factors: the use of the
sodium amytal interview as a means to ascertain the “truth” of
defendant’s belief or motive for killing the victim…
The experts further concurred that the results of a sodium
amytal interview are not considered scientifically reliable for
the purpose of ascertaining truth as such. Nevertheless, the
results of sodium amytal are useful (Supreme Court of New
Jersey, 1989).
Although other jurisdictions reject the admissibility of truth serum interview
evidence for the purpose of establishing truth in a legal setting, the use of these
drugs for interrogation purposes has been reconsidered in the wake of recent
terrorist activities (Odesho, 2004; Keller, 2005). The Department of Justice’s
Office of Legal Counsel sent a memorandum to the President in 2002, suggesting
that such use might be permissible (Bybee, 2002).
Throughout history, truth serums have been correlated with abusive
interrogations and involuntary confessions (Winter, 2005). Article 17 of the
1949 Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War places
restrictions on the detainment powers that may be used to interrogate POWs;
however, the language does not outlaw the use of truth serums (Geneva
Convention, 1949). Given that this international law applies only to prisoners of
war, the interpretation of POW status will likely further cloud the legal and ethical
debate surrounding the resurgence of truth serums.

Neurological Mechanisms
Dissatisfaction with the lack of a clear causal chain from the psychological
decision to deceive, to the autonomic functions (e.g., skin conductance,
respiration) currently measured by the polygraph, has led some researchers to
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seek measurements that are closer to the biophysical seat of decision making.
The field of neuroscience has long sought to “understand the biological basis of
consciousness and the mental processes by which we perceive, act, learn, and
remember” (Kandel, 2000, p. 5). Revolutionary improvements in neuroscientific
techniques, combined with the sophisticated signal processing techniques made
practical by advances in information processing technology over the past few
decades, have made it possible to observe the neurophysiological processes of the
brain itself with increasingly greater resolution in time and space.
This section reviews these advanced techniques for studying the relationship
between cognitive and neural processes. These include electroencephalography,
magnetoencephalography, positron emission tomography, functional magnetic
resonance imaging, near infrared spectroscopy, and transcranial magnetic
stimulation. Empowered by these techniques, some neuroscience researchers
have chosen to forgo the measurement of autonomic responses and seek instead
to correlate deception and brain neurophysiology.
Electroencephalography (EEG)
EEG measures the changes in the electrical field potentials produced by the
sum of the neural postsynaptic potentials in the brain by means of electrodes
placed on the surface of the skin covering the head and face. The changes
directly related to specific perceptual or cognitive events are called event-related
potentials (ERPs). EEG/ERP studies require sophisticated signal processing to
separate the ERP components from the ongoing baseline electrical waves and
consequently require substantial computing power. EEG laboratories in the early
1980s typically relied upon cumbersome, room-sized computers, while advances
in information processing technology have made EEG using desktop computers
a practical reality.
Investigations of EEG/ERP as a means for detecting deception date back to
the late 1980s. Rosenfeld et al. (1987) and Donchin and Farwell (1991) reported
success using EEG techniques to identify specific ERPs that were correlated to
the recognition of guilty knowledge. In 1991 the Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA) funded Farwell to further develop his technique, but chose not to continue
the funding after an independent panel reported in 1993 that the developer was
unwilling to release details of his approach, viewing them as proprietary. Further,
the CIA, Secret Service, and FBI considered the technique to be of limited value
because it was based on a guilty knowledge paradigm and was therefore useless
for screening applications (United States Government Accounting Office, 2001).
EEG-based deception detection research is ongoing (e.g., Rosenfeld et al., 2004;
Vendemia et al., 2003).
Potential
EEG-based approaches have the advantages of good temporal resolution,
equipment that is relatively portable (at least in comparison to some of the other
alternative technologies), and present few safety concerns. On the negative side,
the higher density electrode arrays used in some approaches are tricky and time-

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consuming to emplace properly, and the experience of wearing the electrode array
while being questioned may be onerous for some (although children undergoing
EEG examinations in clinical situations seem to tolerate the experience reasonably
well). Rosenfeld et al. (2004) have found these techniques to be vulnerable to
certain kinds of countermeasures by the subject. Simple countermeasures such as
facial movement may create artifacts. In addition, because the P300 component
of the ERP represents cognitive activity occurring within 300–500 milliseconds
after stimulus onset, stimulus presentations must be repeated for the data to be
based on summation waveforms (Donchin and Farwell, 1991).
Magnetoencephalography (MEG)
Neuronal activation results in a flow of electrical currents, which produces
a weak magnetic field. The magnetic field can be measured by a magnetometer
placed outside the skull. This method of recording brain activity is called
magnetoencephalography (MEG). The area in the brain that has been activated by
a stimulus can be localized by detecting the magnetic fields measured by a series
of MEG recordings.
A thorough review of the literature revealed no studies dealing with MEG and
deception, though there is active research on a closely related topic: MEG and
memory. Temporal resolution is one reason MEG is used in studies of memory
as opposed to other neuroimaging technologies. That is, MEG allows a detailed
analysis of the timing of changes in activation associated with recognition.
Gonsalves et al. (2005) conducted a prototypical study using MEG and the
“remember” versus “know” recognition memory paradigm. This paradigm can be
generally described as follows. Subjects are presented with previously viewed
stimuli and novel stimuli. The subjects are instructed to respond based on the
type of memory they have for the stimulus: that is, if they can recollect the exact
episode in which they saw the stimulus, they would give a “remember” response;
if they have a “feeling of knowing” the stimulus, they would give a “know”
response. Finally, if the subjects believe they have never seen the stimulus before,
they would give a “new” response.
The results of the Gonsalves study suggest that the medial temporal cortex
rapidly signals memory strength by way of reduced activations. The authors
conclude that this may provide a basis for the subjective perception of whether
a stimulus is familiar (“remember” or “know”) or novel (“new”). The ability
to establish “ground truth” relevant to an individual’s memory would clearly
assist the process of detecting deception. It should be noted that this method is
comparable to the GKT/CIT when it is used in conjunction with skin conductance,
heart period variability, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia.
Potential
MEG is a noninvasive technique. However, it is typically performed with a
large, expensive piece of instrumentation that must be contained in an expensive,
magnetically shielded room to reduce external magnetic disturbances. MEG is
therefore not portable. MEG recordings are subject to artifacts from eye blinks,

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eye movements, and mechanical movements of the body that occur in conjunction
with heartbeat and breathing. Subjects must remove all magnetic material, such as
watches, jewelry, and eyeglasses, to prevent these types of movement artifacts.
The results of the study discussed in this section suggest that further MEG
studies may assist in understanding the role of memory within the evolving
set of candidate neural subsystems (discussed elsewhere in the Neurological
Mechanisms subsections) involved in the generation of deception. However,
given the apparent lack of published studies on MEG and deception, it is clear
that MEG is not yet ready for deployment.
Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
Positron emission tomography (PET) is a nuclear medicine medical
imaging technique. The first human PET scanner was developed in 1973. A PET
scanner produces a three-dimensional image of functional brain activity. First,
a radiolabeled positron emitting tracer is injected into a subject’s bloodstream.
This tracer stays in the bloodstream and moves via circulation. Blood flows at
different rates in the brain depending on the level and location of neural activity.
Areas of higher blood flow will contain a larger amount of radioactive tracer,
and will therefore emit a stronger signal. This signal is measured by the PET
scanner, which scans slices of the brain. The images of these slices are then used
to compare the distribution of radioactivity, thus allowing a nuclear medicine
physician or radiologist to map the changes in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF)
that accompany changes in neuronal activity.
To date, only one study has been conducted using PET to measure brain
activity during deception (Abe et al., 2005). In this study, subjects viewed
photographs related to experienced and unexperienced events. In one deception
condition, subjects were instructed to lie in response to the photos of experienced
events: that is, they were to pretend not to know the experienced event. In the
other deception condition, subjects were instructed to lie in response to the photos
of unexperienced events: that is, they were to pretend to know the unexperienced
event. During both types of deception, the dorsolateral, ventrolateral, and medial
prefrontal cortices were active. The anterior cingulate cortex was active only
during the deception condition in which subjects were pretending not to know.
Activation of the dorsolateral and ventrolateral cortices and the anterior
cingulate cortex support the findings of several functional magnetic resonance
imaging (fMRI—see section below) studies of deception (Langleben et al., 2002;
Ganis et al., 2003; Kozel et al., 2004a,b). However, there is some conflict between
this PET study and previous fMRI studies in regard to the laterality of dorsolateral
prefrontal cortex activation. The PET study showed significant activation in the
left hemisphere, whereas Kozel et al. (2004a) reported activation in the right
hemisphere, Lee et al. (2002) in the bilateral hemisphere, Kozel et al. (2004b)
in the more anterior part of the prefrontal cortex with right dominance, and
Ganis et al. (2003) reported bilateral activation. It is possible that this conflict is
due to the different experimental designs used in these studies; however, these
conflicts clearly indicate the need for more neuroimaging studies of deception.

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The differences in experimental design may also explain the activation of the
anterior cingulate cortex only during the pretending not to know condition, versus
the consistent anterior cingulate activation reported by Langleben et al. (2002),
Ganis et al. (2003), and Kozel et al. (2004a,b).
Potential
PET scanning is invasive and non-portable. Scientific PET investigations
require clearance by an ethics committee because of the injection of radioactive
material, and because multiple scans of a subject should be limited. Only a few
hospitals and universities can perform PET scans because of the high costs of
producing the radioisotopes used in the process. Given these limitations, and that
the laboratory results of one PET study conflicted with the results of several fMRI
studies of deception, this technology is not ready to be deployed.
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
fMRI is a relatively recent technique (circa early 1990s) that uses a powerful
static magnetic field, usually 1.5 to 5 tesla (T) or more, to align the nuclear spins
of protons in the sample under study (e.g., the subject’s brain). If the equilibrium
spin alignment is perturbed with a transmitted radiofrequency pulse, the sample
will emit a corresponding transmission as it returns to equilibrium. Because the
magnetic properties of oxygenated hemoglobin differ from those of deoxygenated
hemoglobin, the emitted signal is differentiable. Consequently, the fMRI system
can form a sequence of images of the brain indicating those areas in which the
oxidative brain metabolism — and, by inference, the neural activity — is higher
during the performance of one task than in another (e.g., lying compared to telling
the truth). fMRI relies on large superconducting magnets, cooled with cryogens
to within a few degrees of absolute zero, to produce the intense static magnetic
field required.
The last five years have seen the publication of several research papers
describing the use of fMRI as a means of detecting deception.
•

•

•

Spence et al. (2001) investigated subjects who saw or heard statements
about their own activities that day and signaled whether they concurred
with the statement by pressing the appropriate button (yes or no).
However, if the display used a particular color, the subject was to “lie”
by pressing the incorrect button.
Langleben et al. (2002) used images of playing cards to implement a
modified version of the polygraph GKT/CIT paradigm. Participants were
given a playing card and instructed to attempt to fool a computer that was
evaluating their responses by denying that they had that particular card
when queried, but to respond truthfully otherwise. The subjects were
promised a modest reward ($20) if they succeeded.
Lee et al. (2002) investigated a malingering paradigm in which subjects
pretended to have a memory impairment by making intentional errors, at
their own discretion, during a forced-choice memory task using numbers
and autobiographical information.

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•

•

Ganis et al. (2003) examined the differences between truthful responses
and memorized lies that fit into a plausible but fictitious autobiographical
story, and spontaneous lies that were not part of a coherent story. Subjects
responded to visually presented questions using button presses or verbal
responses, received auditory cues instructing them whether or not to lie,
and were told that a human judge would review their responses to try to
tell if they were lying.
Kozel et al. (2004a) had the subjects visit a room that contained six
objects, of which two were resting on $50 bills. During the subsequent
testing, the subjects were instructed to report accurately the association
of one of the objects with the bill (subject’s choice), and to report that
the remaining bill had been located under a different object than in fact
was the case. The subjects were promised they could keep the bills if they
were able to fool a human research assistant as to the actual location of
the bills.

While each of the above studies reported the ability to distinguish deceptive
and truthful responses on the basis of the fMRI spatial images, there were also
significant differences among the results. This is hardly surprising, given the
differences between the study designs. Some of the key differences include
whether the subject can choose to lie or is told to do so, the stimulus and response
modalities, the subjects’ motivation and emotional involvement, the specific kind
of lie being probed, and the subject’s degree of involvement with a human judge
of deceit (the deceived or target individual described above).
Potential
As a device for detecting deception, fMRI has some significant disadvantages.
It is not portable; the typical fMRI facility usually consists of the fMRI device
itself (including a superconducting magnet weighing 20,000 lbs or so) located in
a magnetically shielded room, a separate control room, and an equipment room
filled with amplifiers, power supplies, computers, and data storage devices. These
facilities require a significant capital investment. The noise level during scanning
is uncomfortably high (necessitating protective ear coverings), and even relatively
minor head motion during the scan can spoil the results. Such movements could
be effective countermeasures for resistant subjects. There are also some safety
hazards associated with MRI. Some injuries, including at least one fatality, have
occurred when metallic objects were brought into the scanning room (against
established safety policies) and were hurled by the intense magnetic field into the
magnet’s bore (where the unfortunate subject was located). Because the magnetic
field can also dislodge surgically implanted ferromagnetic materials, such as
pins or aneurysm clips, not everyone can be safely scanned by MRI. In addition,
pregnant women and people with claustrophobia are generally not scanned for
research purposes (Huettel, Song, and McCarthy, 2004).
Some researchers are attempting to commercialize the results of early
neuroscience-based research efforts. Farwell formed the firm Brain Fingerprinting
Laboratories to promote his EEG-based technique following the termination of

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his government funding. Langleben has applied for a patent for an fMRI-based
approach, and No Lie MRI, Inc. (www.noliemri.com) is working to commercialize
it. Likewise, Kozel and George have applied for a patent for another fMRI-based
approach and are, in conjunction with Cephos Corp., working to develop and
market it. Despite these start-up efforts, and the attention fMRI has attracted from
the press, its use in detecting deception is clearly still in its infancy. No current
brain imaging test has been shown to diagnose common psychiatric disorders
such as schizophrenia (Williamson, 2002). It therefore is unlikely that a behavior
as complex as deception can currently be “diagnosed” with any of the existing
brain imaging techniques.
Functional Near-Infrared-Spectroscopy (fNIRS)
Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a functional optical
imaging modality that measures changes in the concentration of deoxygenated
and oxygenated hemoglobin during functional brain activation. Brain activation
increases rCBF, which, in turn, increases regional cerebral blood oxygenation.
Oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin exhibit characteristic optical properties
in the visible and near-infrared light range. Because of this, concentration changes
in regional oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin during brain activation
(e.g., while a subject is engaged in a task such as lying) can be measured optically.
This is done by introducing specific wavelengths of light at the scalp. The depth
at which this light can be accurately measured is approximately two centimeters
below the scalp (Villringer and Chance, 1997). The ability to monitor brain
function with fNIRS was demonstrated in 1993 (Hoshi and Tamura, 1993; Kato
et al., 1993).
Two studies have been conducted to date using fNIRS with the GKT/CIT
(Bunce et al., 2005; Izzetoglu et al., 2002). Izzetoglu et al. (2002) found that
the level of hemoglobin oxygenation during the “lie” task was higher than the
level during the “truth” task. Bunce et al. (2005) found that inferior and middle
prefrontal cortical areas were associated with some forms of deliberate deception.
These results corroborate the findings of several fMRI studies of deception (Ganis
et al., 2003; Lee et al., 2002; Loughead et al., 2004; Spence et al., 2001). It should
be noted that there were several limitations to the Bunce et al. fNIRS study. First,
only a small area of the cortex was imaged; thus, the potential activity of other
brain areas is unknown. Second, some precision in measuring rCBF was lost due
to the placement of the optodes.
Potential
fNIRS is a minimally intrusive, portable, affordable system. However, it can
only image cortex, and this is a limitation because fMRI studies have indicated
that areas of the brain below two centimeters from the scalp (such as anterior
cingulate cortex and superior frontal cortex) are active during deception (Ganis
et al., 2003; Lee et al., 2002; Loughead et al., 2004; Spence et al., 2001). Wholehead fNIRS systems that would allow a greater area of the cortical surface to
be imaged are being developed; however, they are not portable. Given these

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limitations and the few laboratory studies of fNIRS and deception conducted to
date, this technology is not ready to be deployed.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was introduced in 1985. It
involves placing an electromagnetic coil on the scalp. A high-intensity current
is then rapidly turned on and off in the coil. This produces a powerful magnetic
field, with a strength of about 2T, that lasts for about 100 to 200 microseconds.
The magnetic field passes through the skin, soft tissue, and skull, and induces
an electrical current in neurons. This, in turn, causes a neuronal depolarization
that can have observable behavioral effects, such as body movement and speech
production difficulties, as well as unobservable effects, such as producing
temporary scotomas (blind spots) and phosphenes (perceptual flashes of light).
The area of depolarization is limited to a depth of about two centimeters below the
brain’s surface, because the magnetic field declines logarithmically with distance
from the electromagnetic coil.
TMS has primarily been studied in conjunction with mood disorders,
neurological disorders, and a variety of cognitive processes (such as language,
memory, and emotion). To date there appears to have been only one study using
TMS in a deception paradigm (Lo et al., 2003). In this study, subjects were to
respond in their imagination (i.e., not verbally) to four sets of questions during
TMS. These four sets of questions were divided into two types of response
conditions: “Yes” or “No” (to questions such as “Are you a man?”) and short,
free-form responses (to questions such as “How old are you?”). The subjects were
asked to respond truthfully to two sets of questions and untruthfully to the other
two sets. Motor-evoked potentials (i.e., contractions of contralateral muscles)
were also recorded. The results showed increased cortical excitability when
subjects were generating deceptive responses. This was found in both types of
response conditions (i.e., Yes/No and free-form). These results support the results
of previous fMRI studies on deception (Spence et al., 2001; Lee et al., 2002;
Langleben et al., 2002), which showed increased cortical activity, commonly in
the premotor areas.
Potential
TMS is a non-invasive, portable technique. There are usually no adverse
effects from TMS, though some subjects have reported mild headaches and
discomfort at the site of the stimulation. This pain is most likely due to the
repetitive stimulation of peripheral facial and scalp muscles, and responds well to
treatment with aspirin or acetaminophen. Another known adverse effect is a highfrequency noise artifact that can cause short-term changes in hearing threshold.
This can be avoided with the use of ear plugs. The most serious adverse effect
has been seizure. Although the number of individuals who have received TMS is
unknown, it is likely in the thousands. Seizures during TMS are known to have
occurred in seven individuals, including six normal subjects (Wasserman et al.,
1996a; Pascual-Leone et al., 1993; Wasserman et al., 1996b). The risk of seizure
is related to the parameters of stimulation (magnetic intensity, pulse frequency,

81

training duration, and inter-training intervals). No seizures have been reported
with single-pulse TMS or repetitive TMS (rTMS, that is, repeated, rhythmic
TMS) delivered at a slow frequency (≤ 1 Hz, that is, once per second). Although
there is a growing understanding of the rTMS parameter combinations that result
in a spreading, excitatory neural response signaling an impending seizure, this
risk may limit loosely supervised use of rTMS.
TMS will most likely be a valuable technique to the neuroscience community
because it provides the capacity to excite or inhibit focal cortical areas, thereby
elucidating causal relationships between neural structures and behavior. However,
its effectiveness in detecting or inhibiting deceptive responses or thoughts has not
been sufficiently explored. Additional studies and an established record of proper
safety precautions are needed before TMS is ready for deployment.

Discussion
The review presented above clearly shows that every mechanical device that
has been used to detect deception has both positive and negative aspects. VSAs,
thermal imaging, and facial expression analysis are the only techniques that allow
rapid, real-time analysis that is highly automated. However, the performance of
VSAs in detecting deception has not been shown to exceed that of the polygraph;
it does not even approach the accuracy of the polygraph used in conjunction with
the GKT/CIT. The performance of thermal imaging has been demonstrated in only
one peer-reviewed study. Systems for automatic analysis of facial expressions
have not yet been tested in a deception detection experiment.
In terms of the invasiveness of the techniques, RVSM, facial expression
analysis, eye blinks, saccades, and fixations, voice stress analysis, and TMS are
non-invasive; the polygraph, EGG, EEG, MEG, fMRI, and fNIRS are invasive
because they require physical contact; and truth serums/narcoanalysis and PET
are the most invasive. In terms of portability, RVSM, facial expression analysis,
eye blinks, saccades, and fixations, VSAs, truth serums/narcoanalysis, and TMS
are the most portable; the polygraph, EGG, thermal imaging, EEG, and fNIRS are
portable, but require more equipment; MEG, PET, and fMRI are not portable. To
some extent, portability is highly correlated with cost because of the equipment
required. However, the cost of technical expertise (such as that associated with
the highly portable TMS) must also be considered.
Some of these mechanisms have proven useful for diagnostic purposes (e.g.,
EGG, EEG, MEG, PET, fNIRS, and fMRI) or treatment purposes (e.g., truth
serums/narcoanalysis and TMS) in a clinical setting. However, these techniques
are not devoid of potential physical side effects (e.g., TMS headaches). It should
be noted that there may be accompanying psychological side effects as a result
of undergoing a medical procedure (such as in individuals with “white coat
syndrome”), or receiving medical treatment via truth serums/narcoanalysis (such
as in individuals who recover unpleasant, repressed memories). The costs and
benefits of using truth serums/narcoanalysis must especially be weighed given
that there is currently no drug that produces “truth.” In conjunction with these

82

issues, ethical and legal issues must be taken into consideration before employing
these types of techniques for non-clinical purposes such as detecting deception.
Conflicting Approaches
The most significant problem is that none of these mechanical devices has
been scientifically shown to be capable of accurately and reliably detecting
deception. Of the tests used in conjunction with these mechanical devices, only
the GKT/CIT has been shown to be reliable and based on objective methods.
There are two schools of thought on the approach to solving this problem.
One, referred to as “theory first,” states that there must first be a sound theoretical
basis on which to design such a system. The second, referred to as “system first,”
asserts that such a system can be developed in the absence of a theory.
Those who subscribe to the “theory first” school of thought believe that
additional research is needed to assert and test hypotheses that explain why
lying causes measurable changes (somatic, autonomic, or neurological), and
not simply to establish a correlation between the act of lying and particular
values of, or changes in, the observed features. They state that observation of a
correlation, without knowledge of an underlying causal theory, requires several
key assumptions before the results of the research can be used for operational
purposes.
•

•

•

According to the “accuracy assumption,” the pattern of features correlated
with deception will be present if deception is taking place. It also assumes
that the test will in fact detect any of the possible types of deception the
subject may choose to use and that the test is designed to detect (e.g.,
memorized scenarios).
According to the “specificity assumption,” the pattern of features
correlated with deception will be observed only if deception is actually
taking place. In other words, it will not be affected by one or more of the
many other psychological or physiological processes that may also have
been occurring during the research study (e.g., indigestion), but that may
be mistaken for deception. Note that the use of a correlation with a theory
provides no guidance as to what impact, if any, a countermeasure might
have on the accuracy or specificity of the test.
According to the “sample generalization assumption,” the results of
a research study based on the specific sample of subjects tested can
be applied to any other sample drawn from the larger population of
those requiring a polygraph test. The operational sample may include
individuals who are significantly different in some respect from the
sample used to determine the original correlation (e.g., subjects with
psychopathological syndromes, subjects from other cultures, etc.).

Bashore and Rapp (1993) and Iacono (2000) recommended that research
efforts directed toward the further development of polygraphy be abandoned in
favor of basic research aimed toward the development of “a science of deception

83

detection [emphasis in original]” (Iacono, 2000). Cacioppo and his colleagues
have stated that:
Little is gained, for instance, by simply generating an increasingly
lengthy list of correlates between specific psychological variables
and additional psychophysiological measures. A scientific theory
is a description of causal interrelations. Psychophysiological
correlations are not causal. Thus, in scientific theories,
psychophysiological correlations are monstrosities. (Cacioppo,
Tassinary, and Berntson, 2000, p. 20)
Unfortunately, without an underlying theory on which to base logical
inferences, observation of a pattern correlated with deception for a given sample
of the population gives little guidance as to when the above assumptions are valid.
The only recourse is exhaustive testing of all of the possible combinations of
factors, which is clearly an impractical undertaking.
Those who subscribe to the “system first” school of thought believe that
it is possible to develop a functional and useful system without waiting for the
development of an underlying theory that is universally accepted by the scientific
community. They reason it is not likely that such a theory will be developed in the
short term or that it will receive rapid peer review and acceptance by the scientific
community. Rather than wait for this to come to fruition, the deception detection
community would be better served by continuing to attempt to develop a device
that works, and then later determining why the device works.
The logic behind this school of thought comes from the process of scientific
understanding, that is, the cyclic process of developing hypotheses, making
observations, testing the hypotheses, drawing conclusions, and modifying the
hypotheses accordingly when they no longer support the dominant paradigm.
Methods that work have been developed throughout history in medicine and other
sciences in the absence of a correct theory, or with only a marginal understanding
of how and why they work. For example, when aspirin was first used a century
ago it was believed to have no effect on the heart, but it is now known that aspirin
benefits the heart, and why (Nordenberg, 1999).
Current Status
In its study of polygraphy, the National Research Council
concluded that:
One cannot have strong confidence in polygraph testing or any
other technique for the physiological detection of deception
without an adequate theoretical and scientific base. A solid
theoretical and scientific base can give confidence about the
robustness of a test across examinees and settings and against
the threat of countermeasures and can lead to its improvement
over time. (Committee to Review the Scientific Evidence on the
Polygraph, 2002, p. 3–27)

84

It is apparent that the “adequate theoretical and scientific base” must include a
causal explanation of how the psychological processes involved in deception can
result in the physiological or neurological processes observed during deception.
Unfortunately, such an explanation will not be easy to develop and is unlikely
to be available in the short term. The psychology of deception is not a mature
field, and the neural mechanisms that underlie the ability to intentionally suppress,
distort, or fabricate information are not yet well understood. Consequently, if the
National Research Council is correct in stating that confidence in a given technique
will require a solid theoretical base, then a significant research investment into the
underlying neuropsychological mechanisms of deception must be made before
any practical system for detecting deception can be developed and employed.
Even if the National Research Council is wrong, and the “system first” school
of thought is correct, other problems may need to be solved before any practical
system for deception detection can be developed, tested, and operationally
deployed in the field. These problems are characteristic of experimentation in
an artificial laboratory setting. Such research does not typically result in subjects’
experiencing the same level of threat, motivation, stress, or fear that is likely to be
experienced by a subject in a real-world situation involving detection of deception.
The demographics of the cohorts used in these, usually university, experiments
are likely to differ greatly from those of individuals of interest in the field. These
problems make it difficult to use the findings of laboratory research as a basis on
which to develop a practical deception detection system.
Thus, despite the polygraph’s shortcomings, there is currently no viable
technical alternative to polygraphy. After reviewing the EEG and fMRI deception
detection efforts, as well as some other psychophysiological candidate techniques
(e.g., VSA), the National Research Council concluded that “some of the potential
alternatives show promise, but none has yet been shown to outperform the
polygraph. None shows any promise of supplanting the polygraph for screening
purposes in the near term” (Committee to Review the Scientific Evidence on the
Polygraph, 2002, p. 6–15). This does not imply that these efforts have no value.
On the contrary, the results to date show that these approaches have promise,
and may even be viable in some situations where their level of accuracy is
acceptable. However, much more research is needed if these techniques are to
become operationally useful and reliable in situations that require a higher level
of accuracy.

85

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5
KUBARK Counterintelligence Interrogation
Review: Observations of an Interrogator
Lessons Learned and Avenues for Further Research
Steven M. Kleinman, M.S.
February 2006
The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not reflect the
official policy or position of the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government.

Abstract
A careful reading of the KUBARK manual is essential for anyone involved
in interrogation, if perhaps for no other reason than to uncover a definition
of interrogation that accurately captures the fundamental nature of interrogation while also concretely establishing what it is not (i.e., a game between
two people to be won or lost). A major stumbling block to the study of interrogation, and especially to the conduct of interrogation in field operations,
has been the all-too-common misunderstanding of the nature and scope of
the discipline. Most observers, even those within professional circles, have
unfortunately been influenced by the media’s colorful (and artificial) view
of interrogation as almost always involving hostility and the employment of
force – be it physical or psychological – by the interrogator against the hapless, often slow-witted subject. This false assumption is belied by historic
trends that show the majority of sources (some estimates range as high as
90 percent) have provided meaningful answers to pertinent questions in response to direct questioning (i.e., questions posed in an essentially administrative manner rather than in concert with an orchestrated approach designed
to weaken the source’s resistance).

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Introduction
The KUBARK21 Counterintelligence Interrogation Manual, produced by the
Central Intelligence Agency in 1963 (and declassified in 1997), has become an
icon of Cold War subterfuge and a lightning rod for those who allege that the
United States continues to employ similar coercive interrogation techniques in
the new conflict of the 21st century: the Global War on Terror. In an emphatic
article, Alfred W. McCoy provides a sweeping review of the development of the
KUBARK manual and its disturbing legacy throughout the remaining course
of Cold War history.22 McCoy makes a compelling argument that coercive
interrogation methods, such as those set forth in the KUBARK manual, carry
a far-reaching negative impact on U.S. foreign policy: a premise with critical
implications for current counterinsurgency operations in Iraq.
Rather than address these geopolitical concerns, this review will concern
itself exclusively with the potential for lessons learned that could be derived from
a highly controversial document. Just as important ideas for enhancing security
practices can be elicited from a felon convicted of armed robbery, in looking
past the ignominy of KUBARK’s intended use, one can find useful insights into
the dynamics of intensive intelligence interrogation that can lead to principles
applicable to current challenges.

Observations
Interrogation: A Definition
There is nothing mysterious about interrogation. It consists of
no more than obtaining needed information through responses
to questions.23
An interrogation is not a game played by two people, one to
become the winner and the other the loser. It is simply a method
of obtaining correct and useful information.24
Some might argue that these definitions fail to distinguish interrogation
from a debriefing. While there are far more similarities than differences between
the two activities, what ultimately separates an interrogation from a debriefing

21
The term “KUBARK” is the Central Intelligence Agency cryptonym for a counterintelligence
collection operation conducted in the early 1960s. In the cryptonym system employed by the CIA, the
first two letters (the “digraph”) may refer to a country or a specific clandestine or covert activity, while
the remaining word (in this instance, “BARK”) may refer to a specific operation or recruited source.
22
Alfred W. McCoy, “Cruel Science: CIA Torture and U.S. Foreign Policy,” The New England
Journal of Public Policy (Winter 2005): 209-262.
23
Central Intelligence Agency, KUBARK Counterintelligence Interrogation, Washington, DC,
1963, 1; available at http://www.parascope.com/articles/0397/kubark06.htm. Hereafter cited as
KUBARK.
24
KUBARK, 85.

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rests in the nature of two fundamental elements: psychological set and physical
setting.
•

Psychological Set. In the context of a debriefing, the debriefer and the
source have essentially committed to the primary, shared purpose of
producing actionable intelligence, even though each may be motivated
by dramatically different personal objectives. The debriefer seeks
the fulfillment of tasked intelligence collection objectives, while the
source may act out of a sense of patriotism (e.g., a legal traveler25
reporting information learned while traveling abroad) or may be seeking
preferential treatment from government authorities (e.g., a defector). In
the course of an interrogation, both parties approach the interaction with
different — and at times widely conflicting — sets of expectations and
objectives. While the interrogator may share the debriefer’s objective of
obtaining actionable intelligence, he or she may expect to encounter a
source who seeks to resist, withhold, distort, and deceive.

•

Physical Setting. A legal traveler, in essence, submits voluntarily to the
questioning of the debriefer, and reserves the right (in most instances) to
end the session and depart at any time. It is therefore in the debriefer’s
best interest to make the experience a positive one for the source. By
contrast, an interrogator enjoys a significant degree of control over the
movement of the source, the duration of the encounter, and often the
degree of liberty available to the source (at that moment and for the
immediate future). The interrogator has the option of leveraging his/her
control over these factors — in the form of the “threat” of continued
detention or the “reward” of early release or expanded privileges — as a
means of influencing the source’s responsiveness to questioning.

Focus on Communist Methods of Interrogation
The intelligence service which is able to bring pertinent, modern
knowledge to bear upon its problems enjoys huge advantages
over a service which conducts its clandestine business in
eighteenth century fashion. It is true that American psychologists
have devoted somewhat more attention to Communist
interrogation techniques, particularly “brainwashing,” than
to U.S. practices. Yet they have conducted scientific inquiries
into many subjects that are closely related to interrogation: the
effects of debility and isolation, the polygraph, reactions to pain
and fear, hypnosis, and heightened suggestibility.26

25
Legal travelers are individuals who may lawfully travel to a foreign country for commercial,
personal, or government purposes who may be debriefed upon their return by a representative of the
Intelligence Community for information of intelligence interest obtained in the normal course of their
official duties or personal activities. Legal travelers are not tasked (officially requested or directed) to
collect information.
26
KUBARK, 2.

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The study of hostile interrogation methods has been an essential undertaking
in the noble effort to better prepare U.S. personnel to endure and withstand the
challenges they might face if taken prisoner. However, no similar effort has ever
been undertaken to better prepare U.S. intelligence personnel for their important
role in gleaning critical intelligence data from enemy prisoners and detainees.
The reasons for this omission remain unknown.
Operating with a dearth of research in support of offensive interrogation
methodology, the writers of the KUBARK manual appear to have found
themselves in a situation not unlike that experienced by interrogation personnel
today. In essence, KUBARK’s coercive methods reflected concepts derived from
research into hostile methods — government research carried out specifically
to help identify effective countermeasures — and then “reverse engineered”
selected principles to meet operational requirements. It is interesting to note that
the KUBARK manual (and the methods it proposes) was substantially informed
by studies conducted by Albert Biderman, a sociologist and principal investigator
for an Air Force Office of Scientific Research contract to review literature on the
stresses associated with captivity.27
In large measure, the abuses — alleged or actual — perpetrated by U.S.
interrogation personnel since the advent of the war on terror can be explained
(albeit not defended) by the very same dynamic. With interrogation doctrine
reflecting little change from the 1960s and producing few substantial successes
in the current battlespace, commanders, operators, and intelligence officers have
sought an alternative. In considering options, it became readily apparent that the
experts in Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) were the “only other
game in town.”
While offensive and defensive interrogation operations have much in common,
there are intractable differences. Defensive interrogation training is designed to
help U.S. personnel withstand the unique stresses of all manner of exploitation
— including the employment of coercive methods — to protect information and
avoid becoming pawns in an adversary’s attempt to generate useful propaganda.
To prepare personnel for this substantial challenge, resistance training seeks
to create a systematic threat environment to achieve “stress inoculation.” This
includes exposing trainees to intensive role-played interrogation scenarios. In
the course of many years of experience in such practical exercises, many of the
resistance instructors have become accomplished role-play interrogators.
However, there are three fundamental reasons why experience as a resistance
instructor does not necessarily prepare someone for service as an intelligence
interrogator. First, resistance instructors — portraying interrogators from potential
adversarial nations that have shown disregard for international convention on the
treatment of prisoners — routinely employ a wide range of coercive methods
that often fall well outside Geneva Convention guidelines. Second, although
questioning is an important element of the role-play exercise, this activity does

27

KUBARK, 110–111.

98

not reach the depth required in an intelligence interrogation. Third, resistance
instructors, though talented professionals, lack the training, linguistic skills,
and subject matter expertise required of interrogation personnel. In sum, the
employment of resistance instructors in interrogation — whether as consultants
or as practitioners — is an example of the proverbial attempt to place the square
peg in the round hole. (NOTE: In the months after 11 September 2001, special
operations personnel, many of whom have received resistance training, were
quick to request interrogation support from the SERE community based on
well-entrenched memories of the skill and polish of resistance instructors during
intense role-play scenarios.)28
The Objective of an Interrogation: Information or Confession?
[U]nlike a police interrogation, the [intelligence] interrogation
is not aimed at causing the interrogatee to incriminate himself
as a means of bringing him to trial. Admissions of complicity are
not…ends in themselves but merely preludes to the acquisition
of more information.29
While interrogations conducted to support law enforcement objectives have
many similarities to those designed strictly to satisfy intelligence requirements,
there are several subtle yet important differences. The methods employed
within each context are essentially interchangeable, with discernible differences
identifiable only in nuance. At the same time, the fundamental objectives can
be strikingly different. From a process perspective, the ultimate objective of
the interrogation will inform — and significantly influence — the methodology
employed.
The confession that can be such a monumental achievement in the law
enforcement world is often of little interest to the Intelligence Community.
Conversely, the exhaustive detail necessary to support subsequent intelligence
analysis and production often ranges far beyond that needed to support a conviction.
While law enforcement seeks to establish responsibility, the Intelligence
Community seeks to exploit knowledgeability. In sum, law enforcement attempts
to understand the past; intelligence attempts to probe the future.
Other key differences must be clearly understood. Law enforcement
officials must adhere to federal and state laws pertaining to rights of the accused
(including legal representation and the right to remain silent), standards of
evidence, investigative parameters established by the prosecution, and limits
on the duration of custody. In contrast, the activities of intelligence officials are
governed by international and federal guidelines pertaining to the treatment of
prisoners, priority intelligence requirements, the need to manage a potentially

28
During his recall to active duty from June 2003 to January 2005, the author served as the
Department of Defense Senior Intelligence Officer for Special Survival Training.
29
KUBARK, 4–5.

99

long-term exploitation process, and the pursuit of actionable information and/or
information that corroborates or contributes to intelligence data gathered from
other sources.
As noted previously, what ultimately informs the methodology employed
to collect data from a source is, in large measure, the nature of the information
sought. It is critical, then, to understand the vital differences between gathering
information to support a criminal case and gathering information to support
foreign intelligence production.
Criminal Case
Objective:
Standard:
Limits:
Protections:
Confession:

Foreign Intelligence

Conviction
Legal Code
Rules of Evidence
Fifth Amendment
Considerable Value

Understanding
Analytical Methodology
None30
None31
Relative Value32

An analysis of these critical factors would suggest that interrogators operating
in support of foreign intelligence requirements be afforded a considerably greater
degree of flexibility than law enforcement personnel. While the two interrogation
contexts have numerous areas of commonality, it is imperative that the strategies,
tactics, and techniques developed for each reflect the differences between them.
Without this understanding, the potential exists for significant error in application
and practice.
One explanation for this can be found in the specificity principle. Arising
from studies in the field of kinesiology (the science of human movement), the
specificity principle suggests that the closer two activities are to one another —
without becoming the same activity — the more practice in one will degrade skills
in the other. To borrow an example from sports, the individual who plays softball
and also participates in a bowling league (activities that require vastly different
skill sets) would not find his or her skill in one sport impaired by participation
in the other. Conversely, the individual who plays both racquetball and squash
would likely encounter difficulties in transitioning from one activity to the other,
especially in areas such as strategy, timing, and focus. It is precisely in the areas
of strategy, timing, and focus that law enforcement and intelligence interrogation
are critically different.

30
Any and all information collected by the U.S. Intelligence Community outside the United States
from non-U.S. Persons may be used for intelligence analytical purposes.
31
While the Constitution of the United States specifically protects individuals from unreasonable
searches and self-incrimination, the non-U.S. Person intelligence source does not enjoy these same
protections.
32
A “confession” obtained from an intelligence source only has value to the extent that it establishes
direct access to the information reported. For intelligence purposes, the other interrogatives (e.g., why,
how, how many, when again) are more important than confirmation of an individual “who.”

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Qualities of an Effective Interrogator
A number of studies of interrogation discuss the qualities said to
be desirable in an interrogator…perhaps the four qualifications
of chief importance to the interrogator are 1) enough operational
training and experience to permit quick recognition of leads;
2) real familiarity with the language to be used; 3) extensive
background knowledge about the interrogatee’s native country;
and 4) a genuine understanding of the source as a person…of the
four traits listed, a genuine insight into the source’s character
and motives is perhaps most important but least common.33
The human intelligence (HUMINT) career field has long employed various
psychological testing protocols (e.g., Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory,
California Psychological Inventory, etc.), in conjunction with exhaustive
background investigations, in an effort to both identify those candidates with the
inherent aptitude and/or personality profile for a given operational activity and
to screen out those who would likely prove ill-suited and/or ill-equipped for the
profession. A similar psychological screening protocol (without the background
investigation) has been employed in the SERE career field in an effort to eliminate
those candidates with the highest apparent probability for acting out violently
or abusively while interacting with students during intensive practical exercises.
For application to the interrogation discipline, a critical underpinning of such
screening efforts is the availability of a “model” of a successful interrogator…and
it is unlikely that a properly vetted model exists.
While identifying effective methods and processes is a key element of the
Intelligence Science Board’s EI project mandate, designing a means for selecting
candidates with the highest potential for success in implementing these methods
and processes is of equal importance. Research in this regard should be acutely
informed by the following three considerations:
•

Those in hierarchical authoritarian structures have a documented tendency
to engage in what appears to be “acceptable” inhumane behavior toward
others, as demonstrated in the famous “Stanford University Experiment”
(Haney, Banks, and Zimbardo, 1973).

•

Dr. Howard Gardner’s seminal work on multiple intelligences suggests
that certain people might be naturally gifted with uncommon abilities
and aptitudes in various areas, including (for EI purposes) interpersonal
intelligence (the capacity to understand the intentions, motivations
and desires of other people) and intrapersonal intelligence (the
capacity to understand oneself, to appreciate one’s feelings, fears and
motivations).34

33

KUBARK, 1011.
See, for example Howard Gardner, Ph.D., Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences
(New York: BasicBooks, 1983).
34

101

•

Perhaps the most important single trait of individuals who have
demonstrated long-term success in HUMINT operations is an exceptional
aptitude for dealing with ambiguity. Whether this characteristic can be
reliably measured remains to be seen.

The “Magic” of Rapport:35 The Emotional Component
of Interrogation
One general observation is introduced now, however, because it
is considered basic to the establishment of rapport, upon which
the success of non-coercive interrogation depends…The skilled
interrogator can save a great deal of time by understanding the
emotional needs of the interrogatee. Most people confronted by
an official — and dimly powerful — representative of a foreign
power will get down to cases much faster if made to feel, from
the start, that they are being treated as individuals.36
Despite the impressive success achieved by interrogators who have mastered
the skill of effectively establishing rapport with a source — the celebrated
Luftwaffe interrogator Hanns Scharff37 providing but one well-known example
— methods for rapport-building continue to receive relatively little attention in
current interrogation training programs. There seems to be an unfounded yet
widespread presumption that all persons inherently possess the skills necessary
for building rapport and therefore do not require any supplemental training to
hone this ability. While the KUBARK manual has gained a degree of infamy
through its association with coercive means, it also, in an interesting stroke of
irony, consistently emphasizes the value of rapport-building as an essential tool
for the interrogator.
The devaluation of rapport — that is, building an operational accord with
a source — as an effective means of gaining compliance from a resistant source
is in large measure the product of the misguided public debate over the role of
interrogation in the Global War on Terror, one that seems invariably to focus
on the “ticking bomb” scenario. The point can be safely made that for every
instance where a source might have information about an imminent, catastrophic
terrorist event, there are hundreds (possibly thousands) of interrogations where
the information requirements are far less urgent and the opportunity exists for a

35
Rapport is one of the interrogator’s most powerful tools in gaining a source’s cooperation. It
must be made clear that, in the context of an interrogation, the term “rapport” is not limited to the idea
of friendship that builds between two individuals (although this may actually occur over the course
of an extended interrogation). For the purposes of this paper, the term will be used to imply a state
in which a degree of accord, conformity, and or/affinity is present within a relationship. Source: Jerry
Richardson, The Magic of Rapport (Capitola, CA: Meta Publications, 1987), 13.
36
KUBARK, 11.
37
Raymond F. Toliver, The Interrogator: The Story of Hanns Joachim Scharff, Master Interrogator
of the Luftwaffe (Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., 1997).

102

thoughtful, systematic approach. In the case of the latter, the interrogator might
be well served in designing an effective approach regime by asking himself/
herself, as recommended in the KUBARK manual, “‘How can I make him want
to tell me what he knows?’38 rather than ‘How can I trap him into disclosing
what he knows?’” 39 Operational accord seeks to effectively, albeit subtly, gain
the source’s cooperation and maintain that productive relationship for as long as
possible without betraying indicators of manipulation or exploitation on the part
of the interrogator.
One constructive paradigm for interrogation, yet one that is rarely considered,
views it in terms of a recruitment (or even, perhaps, a seduction). Returning to the
basic definition of interrogation noted at the beginning of this paper, it consists
of no more than obtaining needed information through responses to questions.
To achieve that objective, one can “pull” (i.e., elicit compliance) or “push” (i.e.,
coerce capitulation). While the former is likely to obtain information that can
often exceed the interrogator’s expressed scope of interest — as the source often
possesses both greater depth and breadth of knowledgeability than the interrogator
might assume — the latter will, in the best of circumstances, only obtain
information responding to questions directly asked. Even then the information
will often be limited to the minimum necessary to satisfy the interrogator.
Effectively establishing an operational accord with a source — especially in a
cross-cultural setting — must become a major component of interrogator training
and included in that problem set of necessary yet difficult to define, measure and
train skills needed by all HUMINT operators. A review of studies in interpersonal
conflict resolution and relationship-building under competitive circumstances
(e.g., sales, counseling, negotiation, etc.) can provide a meaningful starting point
from which to launch original research for specific application in the interrogation
context.
Reliability of Casual Observation
Great attention has been given to the degree to which persons are
able to make judgments from casual observations regarding the
personality characteristics of another…the level of reliability
in judgments is so low that research encounters difficulties,
when it seeks to determine who makes better judgments…the
interrogator is likely to overestimate his ability to judge others
than to underestimate it, especially if he has had little or no
training in modern psychology.40
The reliability of casual observations made by interrogators has too often gone
unchallenged. Unfortunately, the fact that someone is a “trained” interrogator is
38
The term “want” in this context refers to creating conditions that make cooperation appear to be
an attractive, even self-serving alternative for the source rather than a characterization of the source’s
efforts to escape physical or psychological force.
39
KUBARK, 12.
40
KUBARK, 12–13.

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too frequently construed as evidence that the individual possesses an uncommon
ability to make rapid and valid assessments of a source with little background
information or direct exposure to support that judgment.
While extensive and consistent experience in interrogation can offer a
person the opportunity to develop above-average assessment skills, this ability
is contingent upon several important factors. First, each assessment must be
subsequently evaluated to determine validity (once additional corroborating or
contradicting information is available) and the method(s) used explicitly described,
deconstructed, and recorded to definitively capture that cause and effect for
future study and possible employment. Second, the key processes used in a given
assessment should be examined, evaluated, and corroborated or discredited by
trained behavioral science professionals. Finally, the individual interrogator must
be sufficiently disciplined to avoid drawing unsupported, possibly self-serving
conclusions as to his or her assessment skills. In this regard, it would be helpful to
keep in mind the caveat set forth in the KUBARK manual: An interrogation is not
a game played by two people, one to become the winner and the other the loser.
Assessment, in the context of interrogation, is a multi-dimensional concept.
The interrogator must be able to effectively — and accurately — assess a source’s
emotional state, psychological set, veracity, and knowledgeability. Individuals
cannot attain the ability to meet such a broad-based challenge successfully in
a single, even months-long training course. Training in assessment must begin
early in an interrogator’s professional preparation and be followed by continuous
study, research, and practice. Although a considerable body of knowledge already
exists in this area and could be profitably mined for supporting techniques and
procedures, new and original studies of assessment in the unique context of
interrogation are needed.
Analytical Support to Interrogation
The interrogator should be supported whenever possible by
qualified analysts’ review of his daily “take;” experience has
shown that such a review will raise questions to be put and
points to be clarified and lead to a thorough coverage of the
subject in hand.41
In prosecuting the Global War on Terror, the targets of primary interest
from both an operational and intelligence perspective are terrorism’s critical
centers of gravity: financing, transportation, logistics, communications, and safe
havens. Just as it would not be reasonable to expect any single analyst to be an
accomplished subject matter expert in more than one (or possibly two) of these
areas, it should not be assumed that any single interrogator can be prepared to
explore the full knowledgeability of sources who have information pertaining to
these key target areas. It is therefore important for interrogators to have on-scene
analytical support for precisely the purposes identified in the above quotation.

41

KUBARK, 13.

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While the Joint Interrogation Facilities established during the 1990-91 Gulf
War were equipped with on-site intelligence support centers, the level of expertise
of the personnel assigned and the real-time access to intelligence information
systems fell short of what would be required of a world-class effort. In contrast,
the World War II Joint Interrogation Center at Fort Hunt, VA, included a robust
analytical support annex that was shaped by, and expanded in response to, the
specific needs of the interrogation cadre. As a result, interrogators were able
to design highly productive lines of questioning, effectively detect attempts at
deception, and often obtain compliance from prisoners as a result of the semblance
of dominant knowledge (a graphic example of Cialdini’s authority principle in
persuasion42).
Interrogation centers would be well-served by the support of an on-site
analytical cell staffed with bona fide subject matter experts and configured to
exploit secure information systems that would facilitate real-time access to larger
intelligence centers. This would have a considerable positive impact on the
ultimate value of the intelligence products generated at the field level. Given the
historical precedent, this is clearly an eminently achievable goal.
Psychological Assessment: Categorizing Sources by Personality Type
The number of systems devised for categorizing human beings
is large, and most of them are of dubious validity.43
Every interrogator knows that a real understanding of the
individual is worth far more than a thorough knowledge of this
or that pigeon-hole to which he has been consigned. And for
interrogation purposes, the ways in which he differs from the
abstract type may be more significant than the ways in which
he conforms.44
The pursuit of a valid means of quickly and accurately assessing a source’s
psychological set — presumably with the objective of identifying an avenue
for expeditiously obtaining compliance in the form of meaningful answers to
pertinent questions — has been something of a search for the Holy Grail in the
world of interrogation. This quest raises three fundamental questions:
•

Is it possible to conduct a meaningful psychological assessment of a
resistant source?

•

Would such an assessment provide substantial assistance in the
interrogation of that source?

•

Would the administration of such testing violate governing professional
standards of ethics?

42
Robert B. Cialdini, Ph.D., Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (New York: William Morrow,
1993), 208-236.
43
KUBARK, 19.
44
KUBARK, 20.

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Certainly, the last question must be satisfactorily answered before a sanctioned
effort can be launched to study the feasibility suggested by the first two. Ethical
considerations aside, the use of some manner of personality assessment presents
intriguing possibilities. As the quotations above indicate, the KUBARK manual
appears to dismiss the potential of in-depth assessment, noting that an interrogator
“does not dispose of the time or personnel to probe the depths of each source’s
individuality.”45 Instead, it suggests some form of categorizing sources based
on observations made in early rounds of interrogation. Even then, the manual is
quick to emphasize that this method, “like other interrogation aids, [is] a scheme
of categories [that] is useful only if recognized for what it is — a set of labels that
facilitate communication but are not the same as the persons thus labeled.”46
In contrast, at least one account would appear to support the concept of a
formal program for assessing sources. According to Orrin DeForest, a CIA
intelligence officer and interrogator during the Vietnam War, psychological
testing was employed with significant success. The test, based on work conducted
by Dr. John Gittinger, sought to measure IQ in addition to three other components
of personality reflected in demonstrated propensities toward Externalizing or
Internalizing, Regulation or Flexibility, and Role Adaptivity or Role Uniformity.47
This test was administered to the interrogator and interpreter staff (and used to
design tailored training programs and subsequent assignments) as well as to the
Vietcong undergoing interrogation. According to DeForest’s account, this tool
proved consistently effective and a valuable supplemental tool used in conjunction
with other creative systems for interrogation.48
Perhaps the most important role psychological testing can play in interrogation
is as a means for enhancing communication and accord between two people;
anything beyond this would be an unexpected windfall. If a current or emerging
testing protocol would prove valid in accurately measuring a relevant component
of the source’s personality — and thereby assisting the interrogator to design an
effective means of approach — it would offer an important alternative that could
help stem the trend of default to coercion that has occurred too often in the course
of dealing with a resistant high-value source.
Screening: Overlooking a Critical Phase of the Exploitation Process
The purpose of screening is to provide the interrogator, in
advance, with a reading on the type and characteristics of the
interrogatee…even a preliminary estimate, if valid, can be a
boon to the interrogator because it will permit him to start with
45

KUBARK, 20.
KUBARK, 20.
47
Orrin DeForest, Slow Burn: The Rise and Bitter Fall of American Intelligence in Vietnam (New
York: Simon and Schuster, 1990), 62-65.
48
Some observers might find it curious that a source would voluntarily submit to psychological
testing, yet this is precisely what occurred. This seemingly inexplicable compliance may be a result
of a “conditioned reflex” to completing the ubiquitous paperwork intractably associated with military/
paramilitary service.
46

106

generally sound tactics from the beginning. [T]he second and
related purpose of screening is to permit an educated guess
about the source’s probable attitude toward the interrogation.
An estimate of whether the interrogatee will be cooperative
or recalcitrant is essential to planning because very different
methods are used in dealing with these two types. It is
recommended that screening be conducted whenever personnel
and facilities permit.49
In strategic and operational settings, where depth and accuracy of information
take precedence over timeliness, screening is a critical component of the
overall interrogation process. Every effort must be made not only to assess the
knowledgeability and cooperation of the source, but — of supreme importance
— to vet the individual in a manner that provides the interrogator with a high
degree of confidence in the source’s identity.
This point, while seemingly obvious, has proven anything but in the course
of current interrogation operations. From the detention center in Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba, to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, to various interrogation facilities in Iraq,
reports abound of prisoners held in detention and interrogated at length because
of mistaken identification. Several factors contribute to this unfortunate situation,
including difficulties in transcribing names from Arabic, Pashto, and Urdu into
English; classic cross-cultural misunderstandings; and a high-threat operating
environment that leads many to err on the side of capture rather than release.
Whatever the causative factor, properly conducted screening operations
can make a significant contribution on two important fronts. First, from a
counterinsurgency perspective, false identification and internment can inflame
an already tenuous relationship between an occupying power and the indigenous
population. The false imprisonment of even a single individual can cause a
profound shift in the insurgent/counterinsurgent dynamic as evidenced by the
French experience in Indochina and Algeria and the U.S. experience in Vietnam
and Iraq. Each instance of mistaken imprisonment, especially if it involves some
form of mistreatment, shifts those who previously supported the foreign presence
toward a more neutral position, those who formerly were neutral may begin to
support the insurgents, and the insurgents may adopt a more militant campaign,
one made all the more robust by a sudden influx of new supporters and combatants.
This untoward cascading effect can be relatively simple to prevent through the
establishment of a vigorous screening program that systematically filters out the
innocent while identifying those of genuine intelligence interest.
Second, from an interrogation perspective, a proper screening effort helps
to ensure the efficient allocation of available assets — interrogators, interpreters,
and analysts — to those sources with the greatest potential knowledgeability. As
one historical example, the U.S. strategic interrogation program in place during
World War II (MIS-Y) employed a multi-tiered screening process that required
49

KUBARK, 30–33.

107

an enemy prisoner of war (EPW) of potential major intelligence interest to be
progressively screened for knowledgeability, expertise, and access at the scene of
capture, at subsequent points of detention, upon embarkation from the European
Theater, and upon disembarkation in the United States. Only those prisoners who
had been assessed as being of the highest value were ultimately interrogated at
the Fort Hunt Joint Interrogation Center. Ahead of its time in managerial acumen,
MIS-Y effectively used the “80/20” principle to better focus its considerable
resources on that small segment of the EPW population able to meet the most
pressing intelligence information requirements of the war effort.
The later stages of the screening process were informed by guidelines and
methods taught by MIS-Y personnel. The last stage almost always included direct
examination by MIS-Y interrogators before final determination of the EPW’s
status. In this regard, it is important to note that the MIS-Y personnel involved in
the screening process were experienced interrogators. In contrast, the KUBARK
manual recommends that “screening should be conducted by interviewers, not
interrogators.”50
Chess in the Real World
No two interrogations are the same. Every interrogation is
shaped definitively by the personality of the source — and
of the interrogator, because interrogation is an intensely
interpersonal process. The whole purpose of screening and a
major purpose of the first stage of interrogation are to probe
the strengths and weaknesses of the subject. Only when these
have been established and understood does it become possible
to plan realistically.51
Building upon the fundamental definition of interrogation noted previously,
the KUBARK manual provides a conceptual perspective on interrogation — that
of an “intensely interpersonal process” — that offers invaluable clues in the
search for relevant supporting research and methodologies. Social scientists have
rigorously studied other intensely interpersonal processes — counseling and
therapy, negotiation, sales, conflict mediation, and even formal debate, to name
but a few. Within the myriad studies investigating the dynamics involved in these
activities, one is likely to uncover concepts with direct application to interrogation
and/or useful protocols for designing studies on the interrogation process.
The KUBARK manual also challenges interrogators to view each source as
unique, therefore requiring judicious planning and a flexible approach tailored to
that individual’s specific strengths and weaknesses. This is especially important
for those interrogators who run default programs comprising a limited array
of approaches that have worked well in the past on a dramatically different

50
51

KUBARK, 30.
KUBARK, 38.

108

source pool. The disciplined interrogator must constantly battle the tendency to
expect, and subsequently to look for, commonalities from one source to another.
This is especially true when dealing with sources from a foreign and possibly
little-understood culture and linguistic background. While a studied awareness
of culture is important in planning for the exploitation of a given source, that
newfound understanding can also cause the interrogator to catch only the cultural
overtones and miss the individual nuances that would prove critical to gaining
compliance.
The effort to build a useful model of the interrogation process must begin
with a conceptual framework. Important components of that framework are
flexibility, individuality, and constant adaptability. Inherent in the underlying
philosophy is the requirement to search for general trends and individual nuance,
commonalities and unique differences.
Ultimately, the successful model must generate an effective strategy for
successful performance in keeping with the Law of Requisite Variety, a principle
drawn from the study of cybernetics with remarkable application to the context
of interrogation.52 Cybernetic theory suggests that in the competition between
two processes within a closed system, the one with greater variety of options
will be successful. Applying the Law of Requisite Variety to the context of an
interrogation, the individual with the larger number of available options (e.g.,
strategies, behaviors, etc.) should prevail. It is therefore of great importance that
the interrogator always have at least one more method of leveraging compliance
than the source has for resisting.53
Saving Face: Helping the Source to Concede
Another key to the successful interrogation of the resisting
source is the provision of an acceptable rationalization for
yielding. As regression proceeds, almost all resisters feel the
growing internal stress that results from wanting simultaneously
to conceal and divulge…To escape the mounting tension, the
source may grasp at any face-saving reason for compliance —
any explanation which will placate both his own conscience
and the possible wrath of former superiors and associates if
he is returned to [his place of origin]. It is the business of the
interrogator to provide the right rationalization at the right time.
Here too the importance of understanding the interrogatee is
evident; the right rationalization must be an excuse or reason
that is tailored to the source’s personality.54

52
Essentially, the Law of Requisite Variety states that the greater the variety of actions
available to a control system, the larger the variety of perturbations (i.e., challenges to
its control) for which it is able to compensate. (Source: Principia Cybernetic Web, URL:
http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/REQVAR.html )
53
Richardson, The Magic of Rapport, 15-17.
54
KUBARK, 41.

109

This point highlights a central, two-dimensional element of the interrogation
process. At a fundamental level, the challenge for the interrogator is to make it as
difficult (and unattractive) as possible for the source to resist and/or make it as easy
(and attractive) as possible for the source to cooperate. Choice of the component
upon which to focus is driven by both individual and contextual factors. With
regard to the former, the interrogator must judiciously select the strategy that
presents the greatest promise of success given a specific source — a decision based
on extended observation and assessment. At the same time, the choice of strategy
should enable the interrogator to most effectively leverage his or her personal
strengths, professional experience, skills in the range of interrogation tradecraft,
and language ability. Concurrently, a number of circumstantial variables must
be assiduously considered, to include the time available for the interrogation (or
series of interrogations), the nature of the existing information requirements, the
physical setting, and the operational/intelligence information available about the
source, his organization, and activities. The calculus involved represents a subset
of the KUBARK concept noted above.
From a social science perspective, this dynamic suggests the possibility
of several behavioral theories at work, including approach/avoidance (Lewin,
1935)55 and bind-strain (Milgram, 1974).56 Exploration of these two theories (and
perhaps others) might explain, at least in part, the compliance-resistance dilemma
facing the source, and uncover methods for shaping the source’s behavior.
The Alternative Question57 methodology frequently employed in law
enforcement interrogations specifically seeks to present the source with what
the KUBARK manual describes as an “acceptable rationalization for yielding.”
Offering an attractive option other than outright confession to a heinous crime,
the alternative question allows the source to “save face” by agreeing with the
interrogator’s characterization of the criminal behavior as inherently positive in
intent or objective.58
While often effective in eliciting a confession, the alternative question
method may be problematic when it comes to collecting intelligence information.
In presenting a source with two possible “alternatives” (e.g., “Did you plan to use
C4 or Semtex as the explosive in that device?”), the interrogator runs the risk of

55
As first described by Dr. Kurt Lewin, approach-avoidance conflict results from the stress of
simultaneous attraction to and repulsion by the same goal.
56
In Dr. Stanley Milgram’s Model of Obedience, individuals may bind to an authority figure
through reinforcing acts of obedience (and thereby externalize responsibility for specific acts), yet also
encounter role strain when that obedient behavior becomes uncomfortable (e.g., when the acts violate
the individual’s personal moral values or when bringing harm to another contradicts the individual’s
self-image).
57
An alternative question is a question that presents two or more possible answers and presupposes
that only one is true.
58
An example of an alternative question might be, “Did you start the fire at your company because
you wanted to hurt people or as a way of calling attention to the fact that your contributions to the
company have been consistently ignored for many years and you felt you had no other options available
to you?” Regardless of how an individual responds, there is an admission of guilt.

110

undermining the objectivity and accuracy of the information obtained. In contrast,
an open-ended question (e.g., “What type of explosive did you plan to use in that
device?”) requires the source to answer on the basis of his personal experience/
knowledge, without the benefit of clues or restrictions contained in the question.
A Systematic Approach to Interrogation: More Than the
Sum of Its Parts
Therefore, it is wrong to open [an] interrogation experimentally,
intending to abandon unfruitful approaches one by one until
a sound method is discovered by chance. The failures of the
interrogator, his painful retreats from blind alleys, bolster the
confidence of the source and increase his ability to resist. While
the interrogator is struggling to learn from the subject the facts
that should have been established before the interrogation
started, the subject is learning more and more about the
interrogator.59
This passage contains an exceptionally important warning, one that an
interrogator must always keep in mind: while the interrogator is watching (and
listening to) the source, the source is watching (and listening to) the interrogator.
The interrogator often enters the interrogation with two distinct advantages.
First, sources may be suffering from the shock of capture that undermines their
psychological and emotional stability (often causing them to say and do things
against their own interests). Second, while a long-serving intelligence officer
may have the experience of dozens of interrogations behind him or her, it is
often the source’s maiden voyage into this uncertain territory. The interrogator
can quickly surrender these advantages, however, by approaching the source
in a hesitant, indecisive manner. This false start can be largely avoided through
careful planning.
The MIS-Y interrogators of the Joint Interrogation Center routinely invested
six hours in preparation for every hour spent in the actual interrogation of a
prisoner. Their approaches, including alternatives, were carefully designed on
the basis of extensive observation and assessment of the source. Intensive study
of pertinent military, technical, economic, and/or political materials enabled the
interrogators to demonstrate a solid understanding of the topics raised during
the interrogation (contributing to the development of Cialdini’s authority effect).
They were similarly prepared to question the source systematically, including the
ability to consistently and logically follow up on new avenues of inquiry as they
unfolded. Not only did this disciplined operating procedure enhance the depth
and breadth of the information collected, but it also facilitated a strong degree of
control over the source. Opportunities for the prisoner to gain confidence from the
miscues of an ill-prepared interrogator were rare.

59

KUBARK, 42.

111

Anticipating Resistance: The Importance of Being Shrewd
It is useful to recognize in advance whether the information
desired would be threatening or damaging in any way to the
interests of the interrogatee.60
Resistance to questioning is the primary barrier to entry in the context of
interrogation. The challenge to the interrogator is to manage resistance effectively
while systematically working to overcome it.
As an interrogator explores a given source’s range of knowledgeability, he
or she must be judicious in framing questions while concomitantly concealing
the true focus of intelligence interest. One productive approach is to concentrate
initially on areas that do not appear to provoke concern, and therefore resistance,
on the part of the source. This requires shrewd questioning by the interrogator.
In essence, shrewd questioning demands that the interrogator carefully consider
the possible range of answers and responses (emotional and/or psychological) a
question may elicit before it is asked, and selectively postpone asking the most
provocative questions until later in the process.
Posing potentially provocative questions in the course of developing rapport/
accord with a source (or doing so too quickly after such an operational relationship
has been established) can seriously — and at times irreversibly — undermine
that cooperative relationship. In addition, drawing upon Cialdini’s concept of
the consistency principle,61 it is important to avoid creating a situation where the
source has the opportunity to formally assume a resistance posture either by word
or deed. If allowed to do so, Cialdini’s research would suggest that the source
might be under additional self-induced pressure to remain consistent in his or her
defiance.62
Capturing the Advantages of Technology: Monitoring Interrogations
Arrangements are usually made to record the interrogation,
transmit it to another room, or do both. Most experienced
interrogators do not like to take notes. Not being saddled with
this chore leaves them free to concentrate on what sources say,
how they say it, and what else they do while talking or listening.
Another reason for avoiding note-taking is that it distracts and
sometimes worries the interrogatee. In the course of several
sessions conducted without note-taking, the subject is likely to
fall into the comfortable illusion that he is not talking for the
record.63

60

KUBARK, 44.
The consistency principle suggests that if individuals make an expressed commitment — by
word or by action — toward a goal or idea, they are more likely to honor that commitment.
62
Cialdini, 57–113.
63
KUBARK, 46.
61

112

The fundamental objective of an interrogation is to collect useful information,
and that information must be recorded in a manner that will ensure it can be
faithfully incorporated in formal reporting. In a bygone era, taking notes was the
only realistic option. The information age, however, which makes an astonishing
array of technical devices available to surreptitiously capture the sounds and
images of an interrogation, presents the interrogator with a host of attractive
options that yield significant operational benefits.
As noted above, the simple act of taking notes provides the source with a
graphic reminder of the interrogator’s primary goal — the collection of actionable
intelligence — despite the well-orchestrated approaches designed to disguise that
intent. In addition, when the interrogator appears to make note only of exchanges
pertaining to certain topics, this not only transmits to the source an indicator of
what is important to the interrogator, but also strongly hints at what the interrogator
does and does not know.
There are myriad reasons to employ monitoring, audiovisual recording, and
transcription technology to relieve the interrogator of this counter-productive
burden, from the ability to accurately capture the information provided by the
source to the opportunity to carefully analyze the source’s behavioral cues, to
providing a visual record of events to guard against the mistreatment of prisoners
(and unfounded allegations of prisoner abuse). In contrast, there is really no
compelling reason for interrogators not to avail themselves of this advantage
(where available). The promise of technology, in the form of field-deployable
recording equipment and well-designed, well-equipped, long-term interrogation
facilities, should be expeditiously embraced. The return on investment would
likely be extraordinary.

113

The Dual Nature of Interrogation
Once questioning starts, the interrogator is called upon
to function at two levels. He is trying to do two seemingly
contradictory things at once: achieve rapport with the subject
but remain an essentially detached observer. Or he may project
himself to the resistant interrogatee as powerful and ominous (in
order to eradicate resistance and create the necessary conditions
for rapport) while remaining wholly uncommitted at the deeper
level, noting the significance of the subject’s reactions and the
effectiveness of his own performance. Poor interrogators often
confuse this bi-level functioning with role-playing, but there
is a vital difference. The interrogator who merely pretends, in
his surface performance, to feel a given emotion or to hold a
given attitude toward the source is likely to be unconvincing;
the source quickly senses the deception.64
Once again, the KUBARK manual eloquently captures the essence of the
internal dynamic of the accomplished interrogator. Reaching this state of almost
unconscious competence requires a consistent regimen of training, experience,
reflection, and peer review that can take years.
A likely factor driving the progressive “dumbing down” of interrogation and
interrogation training in the United States has been the ubiquitous treatment of the
craft in movies and Hollywood. Viewers are treated to endless examples of the
calculating, quick-witted interrogator who can rapidly assess the vulnerabilities of
the source/prisoner and instantaneously devise and orchestrate an approach that
almost immediately leverages compliance. Of course, what the viewer does not
see (or, therefore, remember) is that these five-minute long vignettes are carefully
scripted and repeatedly rehearsed. The actors do not deal with a constant chain
of unknowns, nor are they asked to remain joined in the intense interpersonal
exchange for hours, perhaps days, on end. It is critical that this artificial and often
unrealistic view of interrogation not be allowed to influence doctrine for the real
world.
Pressures and the Non-Coercive Interrogation Model

The term non-coercive is used…to denote methods of
interrogation that are not based upon the coercion of an unwilling
subject through the employment of superior force originating
outside himself. However, the non-coercive interrogation is
not conducted without pressure. On the contrary, the goal is to
generate maximum pressure, or at least as much as is needed
to induce compliance. The difference is that the pressure is

64

KUBARK, 48.

114

generated inside the interrogatee. His resistance sapped, his
urge to yield is fortified, until in the end he defeats himself.65
The concept of “pressure” is an elusive one to capture in a manner that wins
universal acceptance. For this reason, the term itself has played a significant, if
misunderstood role with respect to allegations of prisoner mistreatment. This can
be illustrated in the following recurring scenario:
A senior commander, whose forces have engaged a challenging
insurgent adversary, rightfully seeks to gain every available
advantage, including that possible through timely and tailored
intelligence gathered from recently captured detainees.
Interrogators, diligently employing the U.S. Army tactical
interrogation model—one designed for a more conventional
military paradigm—encounter difficulties in obtaining the
desired intelligence information from suspected terrorists,
captured insurgents, and other high-value detainees. In this
highly charged environment, commanders direct interrogators
to “increase the pressure” on the prisoners without additional
guidance as to how that order might be acted upon. Operating
without advanced training in the needed interrogation
tradecraft and lacking guidance from doctrine tailored to the
circumstances, some interrogators (the majority of whom
are young and relatively inexperienced) interpret the order to
“increase the pressure” as meaning anything from extending the
length of interrogations to pushing (and at times exceeding) the
envelope of accepted methods. In a small number of cases, it is
interpreted as meaning increased physicality.
In the context of an interrogation, myriad environmental factors may generate
pressure (i.e., stress) within an individual. At the same time, it is important — and
the KUBARK manual suggests — not to overlook the influence of the source’s
self-induced pressures. For the purposes of this paper, self-induced pressures will
be defined as those resulting from an individual’s interpretation of, and chosen
response to, events, both real and imagined. Understanding this dynamic, the
challenge for the interrogator is to skillfully (and carefully) manage the level
of pressure in a manner that moves the interrogation toward its established
objectives.
Nonetheless, pressure is an exceedingly difficult quality to measure
accurately, especially on the exclusive basis of external observation. Additional
degrees of difficulty are introduced by the cultural and linguistic barriers that are
almost always present in an interrogation setting, individual responses to pressure,
current levels of physical and emotional health, and time held in detention. Given
this complex matrix, interrogators find themselves walking a very fine line,

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seeking to induce sufficient pressure to obtain the desired level of cooperation
and compliance, but not so much pressure as to violate international convention
or cause a sudden and/or severe emotional or psychological breakdown on the
part of the source.
If the application and management of pressure are inherent components of the
interrogation process, interrogators require a far more sophisticated understanding
of the dynamics involved and more useful methods for accurately identifying and
measuring that pressure. Cross-cultural studies are of great interest in this regard
as an interrogator must, at the very least, appreciate the culturally based pressures
a given source will likely encounter as he or she decides whether to cooperate or
resist.
Deconstructing Resistance
Most resistant interrogatees block off access to significant
[intelligence] in their possession for one or more of four reasons.
The first is a specific negative reaction to the interrogator…The
second cause is that some sources are resistant “by nature”—
i.e., by early conditioning — to any compliance with authority.
The third is that the subject believes that the information sought
will be damaging or incriminating for him personally, that
cooperation with the interrogator will have consequences more
painful for him than the results of non-cooperation. The fourth
is ideological resistance. The source has identified himself with
a cause, a political movement or organization…Regardless of
his attitude toward the interrogator, his own personality, and
his fears for the future, the person who is deeply devoted to
a hostile cause will ordinarily prove strongly resistant under
interrogation.66
“If you know your enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result
of a hundred battles. But, if you know yourself but not the enemy, for every
victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.” This timeless observation from the
renowned strategist Sun Tzu is as true in the interrogation room as it is on the
battlefield. An interrogator acting upon this counsel would be reasonably expected
to spend considerable time in identifying and deconstructing the source’s resistant
posture and strategies. Unfortunately, current interrogation training — and thus
the subsequent interrogation processes employed in the field — fail to invest
sufficient time and energy in this important area.
Sales professionals and clandestine case officers are well-schooled in
identifying areas of resistance and quickly designing a strategy for overcoming
that resistance. The interrogator must be similarly skilled. And while resistance

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may be driven by intra- and/or interpersonal factors (one of the challenges of
assessment addressed previously), there are two other key areas to consider.
The KUBARK manual correctly notes the substantial role ideological
affiliation and commitment can play in a source’s resistance posture. In some
instances (e.g., Al Qaeda), the source may be a product of years of fundamentalist
religious schooling (e.g., the madrassas), where intense, rote learning has filled
students’ minds with selected passages from spiritual texts. In the course of this
training, they have embraced the “belief” that their cause is divinely inspired
(which can place the interrogator on the side of “evil”). The inability to deconstruct
this resistance posture remains a major hurdle in the current war on terrorism.
The development of a useful counterstrategy will need to be informed by a solid
understanding of the target cultures, ideologies, and languages to be relevant and
effective.67
While much of the resistance posed by sources is ad hoc in nature, one
cannot overlook the role of formalized resistance training. As the so-called Al
Qaeda Manual attests, that organization has compiled a systematic resistance
strategy for employment by operatives taken into custody.68 The impact of this
training is revealed in certain consistencies in the behaviors of detainees at
Guantanamo Bay that suggest the use of resistance strategies (e.g., claims of
abuse, repetitive recitations of religious passages, etc.). Even then, the challenge
for interrogators is not inconsequential. First, interrogators must confirm that a
source is actually employing a systematic resistance strategy. Second, they must
identify the components of that strategy. Finally, they must devise an effective
counterstrategy.
To address the concept of resistance meaningfully requires a broad array of
subject matter experts. Behavioral scientists can assist in developing methods for
identifying personality-driven factors. Cultural, political, and theological experts
are needed to better understand the significant environmental components in
play. Accomplished linguists might assist in clarifying where apparent resistance
might actually be the result of misunderstood questions (or answers). SERE
specialists — experts in designing and teaching resistance strategies — would
be an invaluable resource in helping to recognize, confirm, and deconstruct the
resistance strategies encountered by interrogators. Finally, it might require this
wealth of resources to correctly assess if a source’s failure to answer a pertinent
question is the result of defiance or poor knowledgeability.

67
In the author’s recent discussion of this challenging scenario with a SERE psychologist, there
emerged the novel idea of applying deprogramming methods used in the U.S. and abroad to help
“rescue” individuals from the destructive influence of religious cults.
68
A document described as an Al Qaeda training manual was discovered by the
Manchester (England) Metropolitan Police Department in the course of a raid on the home of
a suspected Al Qaeda operative. The manual was located on a computer hard drive found at
the site, in a file labeled “the military series” relating to the “Declaration of Jihad.” (Source:
http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/manualpart1_1.pdf )

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Nonverbal Communication
Human beings communicate a great deal by non-verbal means.
Skilled interrogators, for example, listen closely to voices and
learn a great deal from them. An interrogation is not merely a
verbal performance; it is a vocal performance, and the voice
projects tension, fear, a dislike of certain topics, and other
useful pieces of information. It is also helpful to watch the
subject’s mouth, which is as a rule much more revealing than
his eyes. Gestures and postures tell a story. If a subject normally
gesticulates broadly at times and is at other times physically
relaxed but at some point sits stiffly motionless, his posture
is likely to be the physical image of his mental tension. The
interrogator should make a mental note of the topic that caused
such a reaction.69
The role of nonverbal cues in the communication process is almost universally
recognized. Some researchers (Mehrabian, 1971) have suggested that as much as
90% of communication is transmitted via nonverbal channels (i.e., gestures, vocal
modalities, etc.). At the same time, the underlying meaning of specific physical
gestures and vocal qualities seems subject to passionate debate. Crossing his
arms means he is closed and defiant! Her posture of leaning forward indicates
she is listening and engaged in the idea being presented to her. While the social
science literature is filled with numerous — and often conflicting — studies on
nonverbal communication, professionals who work in the interpersonal context
(e.g., counselors, salespersons, interrogators, etc.) often rely heavily upon their
understanding of nonverbal behavior to complete their work.
At a fundamental level, the process of “reading” body language is not unlike
that used in a polygraph examination. The critical first step is to establish a baseline
for the person being examined. Just as people show individual variation in blood
pressure and heart rate, people similarly exhibit dramatically different gestures and
voice inflections to supplement their verbal communications. Familial, regional,
and cultural background can have a significant influence on an individual’s
repertoire of nonverbal behaviors. At the same time, some researchers, most
notably Desmond Morris, suggest there are a number of gestures that consistently
communicate the same message across cultural and linguistic boundaries.70
Parallel Worlds: Inside and Outside the Interrogation Room
The history of interrogation is full of confessions and other selfincriminations that were in essence the result of a substitution
of the interrogation world for the world outside. In other words,

69

KUBARK, 54–55.
See, for example, Desmond Morris, Manwatching: A Field Guide to Human Behavior (1979) or
Bodytalk: The Meaning of Human Gestures (1995).
70

118

as the sights and sounds of an outside world fade away, its
significance for the interrogatee tends to do likewise. That world
is replaced by the interrogation room, its two occupants, and
the dynamic relationship between them. As [the] interrogation
goes on, the subject tends increasingly to divulge or withhold
in accordance with the values of the interrogation world rather
than those of the outside world.71
Inside the interrogation room, the principals (interrogator and source)
maneuver through two primary, interdependent spheres: the physical setting
and the psychological set. While the source can only realistically influence the
latter, the skillful interrogator can actively manipulate both of these elements in a
manner designed to achieve the overarching goal of obtaining source compliance.
In the effort to induce the source to respond meaningfully to pertinent questions,
the underlying strategy set forth in the KUBARK manual is systematically to
separate the source from anchors of the “outside world” and reset the operative
value system to those of the “interrogation world.”
Perhaps the most important understanding for the interrogator to draw
from this concept is that forecasting events within the interrogation world
is problematic if the prediction is based on trends in the outside world. One
excellent example of this conundrum is provided by Orrin DeForest’s experience
during the Vietnam War. Common sense would deem it unlikely that a prisoner
would willingly complete a written psychological examination (especially one
that would subsequently be used in formulating an effective means of exploiting
that prisoner). Yet that is precisely what repeatedly occurred.
This opens up tremendous possibilities for creativity on the part of the
interrogator. Employing Cialdini’s principle of social proof, for example, the
interrogator could convince the source that every one of his co-detainees has
cooperated fully with the interrogator (who, operating under the rules of the
interrogation world, can assume the persona of the helpful interviewer). Even
though experience in the outside world tells the source that his colleagues were
disciplined soldiers committed to the cause, as the outside world “fades away” so
does his confidence in the assumptions made there.
The most important point to be made in this observation is that the truth of
the interrogation room can range widely from that of the outside world. Those
involved in the quest for new and better strategies for educing information must
remain ever cognizant of this unique phenomenon.
Reconnaissance: Maintaining an Outcome-Orientation
Two dangers are especially likely to appear during the
reconnaissance. Up to this point, the interrogator has
not continued a line of questioning when resistance was
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KUBARK, 57–58.

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encountered. Now, however, he does so, and rapport may be
strained. Some interrogatees will take this change personally
and tend to personalize the conflict. The interrogator should
resist this tendency. If he succumbs to it, and becomes engaged
in a battle of wits, he may not be able to accomplish the task at
hand. The second temptation to avoid is the natural inclination
to resort prematurely to ruses and coercive techniques in order
to settle the matter then and there. The basic purpose of the
reconnaissance is to determine the kind and degree of pressure
that will be needed in the third stage. The interrogator should
reserve his fire-power until he knows what he is up against.72
This passage suggests two very important guidelines for the interrogator. First,
the approach to any source must be measured, systematic, and always outcomeoriented. What this means is that the interrogator should understand the phased
nature of interrogation, that “victories” sought early can result in later “failures,”
and that — and this is of critical importance — one’s ego should be checked at
the door. The outcome-oriented approach facilitates a more reasoned, objective
interrogation process, with the goal of obtaining actionable intelligence being
primary. In contrast, how the source ultimately views the interrogator (e.g., as
omnipotent, incompetent, clever, a genius, a dunce, etc.) is of little long-term
importance.
The second point refers back to the observations on the dual nature of
interrogation. The interrogator must constantly manage the internal-external
reference dynamic in a manner that best supports the approach(es) being
employed. The interrogator is present, interacting with the source, and appears
to respond (believably so) in appropriate ways to the unfolding events. At the
same time, the interrogator checks his or her natural emotional responses (e.g.,
sympathetic feelings for the source’s plight, anger at the source’s insults, etc.)
and replaces them with fabricated responses — accompanied by nonverbal cues
consistent with the response — that move the interrogation process toward the
desired outcome.
As noted earlier, SERE instructors are required to complete a psychological
examination and interview prior to working directly with students in resistance
role-play exercises. The objective is to screen out those who appear to present
a significant potential for abusing their authority. Psychological screening for
interrogators might incorporate a similar filtering mechanism that would, for
example, attempt to screen out candidates who demonstrate low levels of selfcontrol. Although the now-famous Zimbardo experiment has shown that even
apparently healthy, stable individuals can succumb to the authoritarian influence
of power, this should not stand in the way of further research to identify
personality traits, belief systems, and/or values that might enable an organization

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to reliably filter out those individuals with the highest probability of acting out
inappropriately (i.e., abusively, violently, etc.) in the interrogation room.
In sum, the interrogation process can be an emotionally charged, high-intensity
activity that requires a considerable degree of self-control — accompanied
by strategic thought and action — on the part of the interrogator. The unique
challenges set before the interrogator strongly underscore the importance of 1) a
systematic screening and selection process, 2) comprehensive initial and ongoing
training, and 3) continuous assessment of the interrogator (including a selfassessment) as well as that of the team.
Question Design: Tools of the Trade
Debriefing questions should usually be couched to provoke a
positive answer and should be specific. The questioner should
not accept a blanket negative without probing. For example, the
question “Do you know anything about Plant X?”is likelier to
draw a negative answer than, “Do you have any friends who
work at Plant X?”or “Can you describe its interior?”73
Planning, preparation, approaches, rapport-building, detection of deception,
and subject matter expertise are all key elements of the overall interrogation
process. In a real sense, however, each of these is but a supporting player to
the art of effective questioning. Going back to the fundamental definition of
interrogation set forth previously (“it consists of no more than obtaining needed
information through responses to questions”), it becomes readily apparent that
the entire effort hinges upon the ability of the interrogator to methodically ask
meaningful questions of the source.
Of all the skills required of the accomplished interrogator, none is more
important than mastery of interrogatives. Rudyard Kipling went straight to the
heart of the matter when he observed, “I kept six honest serving-men (they taught
me all I knew); their names are what and why and when and how and where and
who.”74 These six questions provide the basic tools of the trade that can enable
the skilled interrogator to expertly probe a source’s knowledge with laser-like
precision while adroitly disguising intent.
Research in the social sciences, communication theory, and linguistics has
uncovered a number of useful understandings about the potential power of welldesigned questions that could have immediate application in interrogation. Subtle
changes in syntax, for example, have shown to greatly enhance the persuasive
power of a given question (Davis and Knowles, 1999). Additional study is
required to assess the effect of such questioning techniques through the crosscultural filter.

73
74

KUBARK, 62.
From Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories.

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Veracity vs. Knowledgeability
It is important to determine whether the subject’s knowledge
of any topic was acquired first hand, learned indirectly, or
represents merely an assumption. If the information was
obtained indirectly, the identities of sub-sources and related
information about the channel are needed. If statements rest on
assumptions, the facts upon which the conclusions are based
are necessary to the evaluation.75
One of the weaknesses attributed specifically to human intelligence (and
especially to interrogation) is the questionable reliability of the information
provided by a source. “Prisoners often lie!” is the oft-repeated mantra chanted
by those who have ardently embraced the technical side of intelligence gathering
(while overlooking the numerous examples of how camouflage, concealment, and
deception or spoofing have successfully fooled imagery and signals intelligence
analysts, respectively). Nonetheless, reliability is a critical factor in the human
intelligence equation.
Simply stated, source reliability can be broken down into two categories:
veracity and knowledgeability. Veracity refers to the truthfulness of the source,
while knowledgeability refers to the scope of first-hand information a source
possesses. Although two fundamentally different concepts, they can, at times,
become interwoven.
•

A source may tell the interrogator the truth about the topics raised in
the course of the interrogation. The source may, however, have a wider
range of knowledgeability than he or she has allowed to become known.
Essentially, the source has told the truth…just not the whole truth.

•

Conversely, a source may tell the interrogator more than he or she really
knows. In an effort to secure some real or imagined form of reciprocity
from the interrogator, the source speaks truthfully about all he or she
knows…and then some. This “extra” may be the product of speculation,
imagination, and/or fabrication.

•

The end game of deception, then, occurs in two primary ways: 1) the
source might purposefully falsify information and/or 2) the source might
withhold known information on specific topics. While there are unique
dangers inherent in each of these scenarios, both could lead to corrupted
data being reported as intelligence information.

In addition to systematic questioning techniques and subject-matter expertise,
assessing the veracity and knowledgeability of the source requires that the
interrogator have a third critical skill: detecting deception. Scientific (and popular)
literature abounds with studies of how, why, and when people deceive. Searching
for reliable indicators, researchers have focused on body movements (e.g., micro75

KUBARK, 62.

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expressions), vocal cues (e.g., changes in pitch), verbal errors (e.g., so-called
Freudian slips), language patterns (e.g., repeating the question), and measurable
changes in physiological processes (e.g., polygraph examination and voice stress
analysis). While many individuals — including interrogators — are convinced
of their ability to effectively and consistently detect deception, most are unable
to clearly describe the set of behaviors that provided that insight. Further, most
studies indicate that these individuals’ confidence in their lie-catching ability is
not substantiated by performance in controlled conditions.
Although numerous studies have investigated the ability of one individual to
reliably identify another’s efforts to deceive, these studies have been conducted
almost exclusively in the safe environment of laboratory conditions. For the
“deceiver,” there really are no significant consequences involved if he or she is
“caught.” As a result, there is minimal stress involved, yet most theorists suggest
that it is stress that causes the psycho-physical changes that, in turn, are manifested
by external cues (e.g., stereotypical grooming behaviors).
The Strategy of Non-Coercive Interrogation
If source resistance is encountered during screening or during
the opening or reconnaissance phases of the interrogation, noncoercive methods of sapping opposition and strengthening the
tendency to yield and to cooperate may be applied. Although
these methods appear here in an approximate order of increasing
pressure, it should not be inferred that each is to be tried until
the key fits the lock. On the contrary, a large part of the skill and
the success of the experienced interrogator lies in his ability to
match method to source. The use of unsuccessful techniques will
of itself increase the interrogatee’s will and ability to resist.76
The effectiveness of most of the non-coercive techniques depends
upon their unsettling effect. The interrogation situation is in
itself disturbing to most people encountering it for the first time.
The aim is to enhance this effect, to disrupt radically the familiar
emotional and psychological associations of the subject. When
this aim is achieved, resistance is seriously impaired.77
The KUBARK manual offers a broad array of useful insights into the
interrogation process — insights gleaned from extensive real-world experience.
While the coercive approaches are rightfully rejected, it is clear the intelligence
officers and behavioral scientists who contributed to this manual spent considerable
time studying and reflecting upon their craft. It is up to the current generation of
practitioners to sort through this treatise to uncover the invaluable take-aways.

76
77

KUBARK, 65.
KUBARK, 65-66.

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One of those can be found in the above passage. Interrogators must
consistently guard against taking actions that will prove counterproductive as
the process unfolds. Rather, interrogation must be approached in a systematic
fashion, thinking, as a chess master must, several steps ahead of the interrogatee.
This is where the aforementioned Law of Requisite Variety comes into play, as the
interrogator always maintains at least one more method of obtaining compliance
— be it a new line of questioning, an alternative approach, or a well-crafted ruse
(see below) — than the source has means of resisting. But, as the manual states,
employing those options in a confused, ill-conceived manner will only “increase
the interrogatee’s will and ability to resist.”
The KUBARK manual offers specific techniques (i.e., approaches) for use in
a non-coercive interrogation setting. Several of these have potential for application
in current intelligence collection operations.
Going Next Door
Occasionally the information needed from a recalcitrant
interrogatee is obtainable from a willing source…[t]he labor
of extracting the truth from an unwilling interrogatee should
be undertaken only if the same information is not more easily
obtainable elsewhere….78
One of the fallacies of interrogation — and one that continues to be a
significant factor in driving the use of coercive techniques — is the concept that
every detainee is a unique, invaluable, and irreplaceable source of intelligence
information and therefore must be leveraged into compliance. As with the
“ticking nuclear bomb” scenario so often cited in the debate over just how far
U.S. interrogators should go to force a source to cooperate, such instances are
extremely rare. Nonetheless, there is almost a default pattern wherein the path
of greatest resistance is taken with a recalcitrant source rather than taking the
more strategic route of seeking the same information from a more accessible and
compliant source.
This common miscue is based on two fundamental errors in judgment. The
first is an ego-based error. While persistence is a critical characteristic of many
successful interrogators, the most accomplished among them focus their finite
resources (e.g., time and energy) on the challenges that present the most attractive
risk/gain ratio. After spending sufficient time to establish that the source’s
resistance posture will be a significant hurdle, the wise interrogator quickly asks
himself/herself, in keeping with the KUBARK manual guidance quoted above,
“Where else can I obtain the information I need?” Such prudent interrogators
are not driven by the need to demonstrate their skill in overcoming a particular
source’s line of resistance; rather, they are driven by the intractable need to obtain
the desired information from whatever source is liable to offer it up.

78

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Second, there is the tactical error of assuming that a source’s level of resistance
is directly correlated with his level of knowledgeability. While common sense
might suggest a logic inherent in this assumption, reality will quickly correct it.
Resistance is the direct product of several key factors: training, life experience,
personality, commitment to a cause, deep-seated feelings about the interrogator
and/or his country of origin, and even anger at the manner in which the source has
been treated since capture. Any one of these can lead the truck driver to protect the
already compromised route he was to drive during an operation more fiercely than
a less-motivated nuclear engineer will protect the key to disabling a radioactive
dispersal device.79
Nobody Loves You
An interrogatee who is withholding items of no grave
consequence to himself may sometimes be persuaded to talk by
the simple tactic of pointing out that to date all of the information
about his case has come from persons other than himself. The
interrogator wants to be fair. He recognizes that some of the
denouncers may have been biased or malicious…the source
owes it to himself to be sure that the interrogator hears both
sides of the story.80
(See observations under next heading.)
Joint Suspects
If two or more interrogation sources are suspected of joint
complicity in acts directed against U.S. security, they should
be separated immediately. If time permits, it may be a good
idea (depending upon the psychological assessment of both) to
postpone interrogation for about a week. Any anxious inquiries
from either can be met with a knowing grin and some such reply
as, “We’ll get to you in due time. There’s no hurry now.”81
The primary difference between these two approaches is that in the first the
source is presented with evidence — largely implicit — that other, unnamed,
unknown (to the source), and as yet unseen detainees have provided information
that reflects negatively upon him, while in the second scenario the interrogator
refers directly to damaging information gathered from other detainees known to
the source.
Leveraging one source against another is a common police tactic (the central
idea of the classic “prisoner’s dilemma”) and is especially useful when dealing

79
A radioactive dispersal device is often referred to in the media and in popular literature as a
“dirty bomb.”
80
KUBARK, 67.
81
KUBARK, 70.

125

with sources who have limited or no training in resistance strategies. With sufficient
validated intelligence supporting him, the interrogator can effectively present
information to source A that was allegedly (and plausibly) provided by source B.
The wedge thus placed, in conjunction with time and careful orchestration, can
be effective in eliciting progressively more information independently from each
source.
The All-Seeing Eye
The interrogator who already knows part of the story explains
to the source that the purpose of the questioning is not to gain
information; the interrogator knows everything already. His
real purpose is to test the sincerity (reliability, honor, etc.) of
the source. The interrogator then asks a few questions to which
he knows the answers. If the subject lies, he is informed firmly
and dispassionately that he has lied. By skilled manipulation of
the known, the questioner can convince a naïve subject that all
his secrets are out and that further resistance would be not only
pointless but dangerous.82
Similar to the We Know All approach outlined in U.S. Army Field Manual
34-52, the All-Seeing Eye has proven consistently effective with a broad array
of sources.83 While simple in concept, as with other effective approaches, the
underlying dynamic can be far more complex. In this instance, two fundamental
activities occur to render it effective in obtaining compliance from a resistant
source.
First, Cialdini’s authority principle plays an important part in this approach.
The source, convinced that the interrogator knows as much as (perhaps more than)
he does, sees little to be gained from protecting information of such apparently
little value, especially if he anticipates that the consequences of withholding
such information are undesirable. Second, recalling the premise that two of the
interrogator’s primary objectives are to increase the stress the source internalizes
about the consequences of resistance while simultaneously reducing the
internalized stress over the prospect of cooperating, this approach systematically
targets the latter. By maintaining this approach over time, the interrogator is able
to introduce a new and perhaps unexpected factor in the source’s resistance/
cooperation calculus.
Ivan Is a Dope
It may be useful to point out to a hostile [source] that the cover
story was ill-contrived, that the other service botched the job,
82

KUBARK, 67.
The author refers to this approach as “The Exquisite Ruse,” and has used it with great effect in
interrogation operations conducted during Operations JUST CAUSE, DESERT STORM, and IRAQI
FREEDOM.
83

126

that it is typical of the other service to ignore the welfare of
its agents. The interrogator may personalize this pitch by
explaining that he has been impressed by the [source’s] courage
and intelligence.84
This approach also leverages the psychological and emotional partition
between aforementioned values outside the interrogation room and those inside
the interrogation room. By using this approach effectively, the interrogator
continues to separate the source from his or her external anchors. In this instance,
that anchor is a belief in the parent service’s skill in managing cover to properly
protect the source operationally. This has direct application to the interrogation of
suspected terrorists, not only as it relates to cover support, but also to the threat
briefings, operational planning, and equipment provided to the source by his or
her sponsoring organization.
A key element of systematic interrogation is systematic innovation. Rather
than assume that the approaches outlined in U.S. Army Field Manual 34-52 are
the limit of their repertoire of tactics, interrogators should view those approaches
as only the very beginning. The drafters of the KUBARK manual demonstrated
the value to be found in the ability to adapt to new challenges, design innovative
strategies, identify through practical experience what appears to consistently
work well, and share these novel concepts with other interrogators. If a central
clearinghouse for new interrogation tactics, techniques, and procedures existed
— a means of capturing and widely disseminating the experience and insights of
operators in the field — it is quite probable that the art of interrogation would
currently be taught and practiced in a significantly different and far more effective
fashion.
The Need to Communicate
…continued questioning about lofty topics that the source
knows nothing about may pave the way for the extraction of
information at lower levels…complaints that he knows nothing
of such matters are met by flat insistence that he does know, he
would have to know, that even the most stupid men in his position
know…after the process has continued long enough, the source
was asked a question to which he did know the answer. Numbers
of [former] American [POWs] have mentioned “the tremendous
feeling of relief you get when [the interrogator] finally asks you
something you can answer…I know it seems strange now, but I
was positively grateful to them when they switched to a topic I
knew something about.”85

84
85

KUBARK, 72.
KUBARK, 75.

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In yet another example of the many conundrums of the interrogation room,
common sense would suggest that sources would find an advantage in being
asked questions concerning topics about which they knew little or nothing. Such
circumstances do not place them in a position where they felt pressure to deceive
(“falsify”) or purposely withhold (“conceal”) information. As reported by U.S.
POWs who were subjected to this manner of questioning during the Korean
War, however, it often proved true that the inability to answer questions created
tremendous pressure and, as the quotation above illustrates, the opportunity finally
to address questions within the scope of their experience and knowledgeability
proved a welcome relief. The need to communicate is surprisingly powerful, and
more powerful still under traumatic circumstances.
Cialdini provides another perspective that may be a relevant factor at play in
this approach. In his rejection-then-retreat scenario, when one asks for something
difficult (a request that might often be denied) and then asks for something less
demanding, the compliance rate for the lesser demand is higher when the demand
is preceded by the more difficult demand than when the questions are asked in
isolation.86 In the context of interrogation, a source may be reluctant to answer
sweeping questions about organizational plans and intentions, but, in contrast,
may be less guarded about lower-level details. Although declining to answer
questions about strategic-level topics, the source may feel less pressure to keep
from answering questions about tactical-level topics.
Taking into account Cialdini’s consistency principle (i.e., people tend to act
in a manner consistent with formal, public statements made or positions taken
previously),87 this strategy would probably work more effectively when the
interrogator asks the strategic-level question, but, sensing hesitation on the part of
the source, withdraws it before the source has the chance to resist. If allowed to
formally assume a resistance posture, the pressure to remain consistent with that
decision may have a greater influence than the relief gained from being able to
respond to a question with which the source is more comfortable.
What internal dialogue takes place within a source in response to various
approaches? Can Cialdini’s principles of persuasion explain, at least in part, why
a given approach elicits compliance from a source? Do certain trends in behavior
in the interrogation room prove valid in a sufficient number of cases that they can
be routinely employed with a high degree of probability of ultimately proving
effective? The review of available literature strongly suggests that these critical
questions, and others, have not been satisfactorily addressed with regard to the
traditional approaches and other tactics, techniques, and procedures still being
employed. The move to the next generation of strategies for educing information
depends on research that can uncover the answer to these questions. Once this
has been accomplished, ineffective methods can be eliminated from the training
curricula and replaced by innovative strategies complete with a valid description
of the underlying factors that are essential to success.
86
87

Cialdini, 36–51.
Cialdini, 57–113.

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Alice in Wonderland: The Power of Applied Confusion
The aim of the Alice in Wonderland or confusion technique is
to confound the expectations and conditioned reactions of the
interrogatee. He is accustomed to a world that makes sense, at
least to him: a world of continuity and logic, a predictable world.
He clings to this world to reinforce his identity and powers of
resistance. The confusion technique is designed not only to
obliterate the familiar, but to replace it with the weird…as the
process continues, day after day as necessary, the subject begins
to try to make sense of the situation, which becomes mentally
intolerable…he is likely to make significant admissions, or even
to pour out his story.88
SERE psychologists have identified the inability to effectively forecast
near-term events as a major stressor in the detention environment. Adults grow
accustomed to having a reasonable degree of control over their lives, which
enables them to make accurate predictions about basic events such as when they
go to sleep, when they wake up, when they eat, and when they use the toilet. In
addition, if they find themselves encountering unpleasant circumstances (e.g., an
annoying neighbor, a time-wasting work associate, etc.), it is normally within
their power to escape those stressful situations at will (or least minimize the time
spent engaged with the unattractive individual). In detention, avoidance may not
be an option.
The KUBARK principle described in the passage above suggests that an
interrogator is able to generate a significant degree of pressure on a source through
the purposeful creation of confusing circumstances that effectively remove the
source’s ability to make predictions. In effect, the source struggles to find a
familiar logic to the chain of events, the nature of the interactions, and purpose of
the exchanges with the interrogator. As the struggle proves unsuccessful, the level
of stress can dramatically rise to an exceptionally uncomfortable level. According
to the KUBARK manual, sources may offer up information to the interrogator in
an effort to overtly introduce “sense” to their chaotic circumstances. In discussing
that information, the source has recaptured a degree of comforting predictability.
From the source’s perspective, the experience of being detained and
interrogated would seem to have inherent elements of disorder and ambiguity.
The effect this has on a given source (negative or positive) would appear, then,
to be directly correlated with each source’s need for order and level of comfort/
discomfort with ambiguity. While the literature on Communist methods of
interrogation frequently references the value of confusion in obtaining compliance,
it is less clear as it applies to obtaining relevant, accurate information. Perhaps
additional study is warranted on the effects of confusion as well as a means for
rapidly assessing a source’s tolerance for disorder and ambiguity.
88

KUBARK, 76.

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The Regression Factor: The Fundamental Objective of Coercive
Methodology
All coercive techniques are designed to induce regression…the
result of external pressures of sufficient intensity is the loss of
those defenses most recently acquired by civilized man: “the
capacity to carry out the highest creative activities, to meet
new, challenging, and complex situations, to deal with trying
interpersonal relations, and to cope with repeated frustrations.
Relatively small degrees of homeostatic derangements, fatigue,
pain, sleep loss, or anxiety may impair these functions.” As a
result, “most people who are exposed to coercive procedures
will talk and usually reveal some information that they might
not have revealed otherwise.”89
The deprivation of stimuli induces regression by depriving the
subject’s mind of contact with an outer world and thus forcing
it in upon itself. At the same time, the calculated provision of
stimuli during interrogation tends to make the regressed subject
view the interrogator as a father-figure. The result, normally, is a
strengthening of the subject’s tendencies toward compliance.90
Listening to the post-9/11 debate over guidelines for the interrogation of
terrorist suspects, one could easily conclude that coercive methods are not only
effective, but also substantially more effective than non-coercive methods in
obtaining actionable intelligence from resistant sources. Even those opposed to
the use of coercive methods fail to challenge this premise, exclusively focusing
their arguments instead on the legal and moral issues at stake.
Those issues aside, from a geopolitical perspective alone, a judicious
risk/gain assessment of this course of action is of critical importance, as the
consequences are considerable. This was dramatically illustrated by the antiAmerican demonstrations throughout the Muslim world in response to revelations
of the abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Ironically, while those risks are not
exceptionally difficult to ascertain, the potential for gain is arguably problematic
since the scientific community has never established that coercive interrogation
methods are an effective means of obtaining reliable intelligence information.
In essence, there seems to be an unsubstantiated assumption that “compliance”
carries the same connotation as “meaningful cooperation” (i.e., a source induced
to provide accurate, relevant information of potential intelligence value).91

89

KUBARK, 83.
KUBARK, 90.
91
Claims from some members of the operational community as to the alleged effectiveness of
coercive methods in educing meaningful information from resistant sources are, at best, anecdotal in
nature and would be, in the author’s view, unlikely to withstand the rigors of sound scientific inquiry.
90

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The concept of regression appears to be a consistent theme in much of the
research conducted on long-term detention and interrogation, a considerable
portion of which involved the experiences of U.S. military personnel held prisoner
during the Korean conflict. The psychologist Martin Orne, writing in 1961, noted
that:
[C]onditions of interrogation are sometimes conducive to
a regression on the part of the source. The interrogator can
exercise complete control of the source’s physical being
— his primitive needs such as elimination, eating, and
sleeping, and even bodily postures. He is also in a position
to reward or punish any predetermined activity on the part
of the captive. This tends to create a situation where the
individual feels unable to observe any control over himself.
This extreme loss of control is handled in a variety of ways,
one of which is regression to a childlike state of dependence
on and identification with the aggressor…some prisoners
adopt a cooperative role because of the need to reassure
themselves that they retain some control over their behavior
in the coercive situation. Complying “voluntarily” for such
cases is less threatening, and may be regarded by them as less
shameful, than losing control completely over their actions.92
Assuming for a moment that this regression dynamic accurately describes the
underlying process that leads a once-resistant source toward compliance,93 the
use of interrogation techniques to bring about regression still raises a number of
key questions:
1.

What precise means are required to obtain this end?

2.

What are the overarching management and operational requirements for
orchestrating such a process?

3.

Is the length of time required for the regression to occur reasonable
enough to render it a useful method of obtaining time-sensitive
intelligence?

4.

What are the long-term effects of the regression experience?

5.

Are individuals subjected to this condition profoundly changed?

6.

Is their emotional and psychological stability significantly harmed such
that treatment is required to address — and reverse — the condition?

7.

What are the legal and moral issues involved?

92
Martin T. Orne, “The Potential Uses of Hypnosis in Interrogation,” in The Manipulation of
Human Behavior, ed. Albert D. Biderman and Herbert Zimmer (New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.,
1961), 206. Hereafter referred to as The Manipulation of Human Behavior.
93
Two additional important points with respect to regression warrant further comment. First, a
given individual’s response to circumstances designed specifically to cause regression cannot be
reliably predicted in advance. Second, regression in general receives far less professional acceptance
as a psychological concept today than was true in the 1950–1960 timeframe.

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8.

How would the revelation of this form of interrogation be received by
various audiences, domestic and foreign?

9.

Would the use of coercive methods — real or alleged — have an impact
on the treatment of U.S. personnel held captive in adversarial hands?

10. Would the use of forced regression as a sanctioned method of
exploitation be viewed as being consistent with long-standing U.S.
values and military traditions?
11. The above considerations notwithstanding, does the use of regression
consistently produce reliable, actionable intelligence information?
In The Manipulation of Human Behavior, Biderman decried the fact that, in
1961, the “dearth of sober information on interrogation has had the unfortunate
consequence of facilitating the exploitation of United States prisoners of war by
Communist captors.”94 While he was specifically addressing a research shortfall
that undermined training in the resistance to interrogation for U.S. military
personnel, the same observation remains essentially true over 40 years later with
regard to the paucity of relevant information on effective tactics, techniques, and
procedures for the interrogation of adversarial detainees under U.S. control.
Obstacles to Meaningful Intelligence: The Negative Effects of Coercion
[T]he response to coercion typically contains “at least three
important elements: debility, dependency, and dread.”95
“[A]mong the American POWs pressured by the Chinese
Communists, the DDD syndrome in its full-blown form
constituted a state of discomfort that was well-nigh intolerable.”
If the debility-dependency-dread state is unduly prolonged,
however, the [source] may sink into a defensive apathy from
which it is hard to arouse him.96
Psychologists and others who write about physical or
psychological duress frequently object that under sufficient
pressure subjects usually yield but that their ability to recall
and communicate information accurately is as impaired as the
will to resist.97
…a strong fear of anything vague or unknown induces regression,
whereas the materialization of the fear, the infliction of some
form of punishment, is likely to come as a relief. The subject
finds that he can hold out, and his resistances are strengthened.

94
Albert Biderman, “Introduction – Manipulations of Human Behavior,” in The Manipulation of
Human Behavior, 4.
95
KUBARK, 83.
96
KUBARK, 84.
97
KUBARK, 84.

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In general, direct physical brutality creates only resentment,
hostility, and further defiance.98
As these passages from the KUBARK manual suggest, the very means by
which coercive methods undermine the source’s resistance posture may also
concomitantly degrade his ability to report the intelligence information they
possess in a valid, comprehensive fashion. There would, then, appear to be a
very fine line that the interrogator would need to walk deftly as he uses sufficient
force to cause the source to yield to questioning, but not so much as to impede the
source’s ability to answer those questions meaningfully.
In examining this complex issue, it is important to keep clearly in mind that
interrogations take place in real-world settings, without the controls available
in the safety of the institutional research environment. Managing levels of
internalized pressure experienced by a source subjected to coercive means is
most definitely neither a science nor a precise art. The pressure interrogators and
overseers would seek to measure is an elusive entity, one that can only be gauged
by highly subjective standards. Levels of pressure introduced by coercive methods,
as with torture in general, are often in the eye of the beholder as illustrated in the
following passage from Phoenix and the Birds of Prey, an account of Operation
Phoenix, conducted during the Vietnam War:
Some people define torture as the infliction of severe physical pain
on a defenseless person. I define torture as the infliction of any pain
on a defenseless individual because deciding which activities inflict
severe pain is an excessively complicated and imprecise business.
(Original italics)99
The KUBARK manual offers unique and exceptional insights into the
complex challenges of educing information from a resistant source through noncoercive means. While it addresses the use of coercive methods, it also describes
how those methods may prove ultimately counterproductive. Although criticized
for its discussion of coercion, the KUBARK manual does not portray coercive
methods as a necessary — or even viable — means of effectively educing
information.
Shock of Capture: A Strategic Inflection Point in an Interrogation

The manner and timing of arrest can contribute
substantially to the interrogator’s purposes. “What we
aim to do is to ensure that the manner of arrest achieves,
if possible, surprise, and the maximum amount of mental
discomfort in order to catch the suspect off balance and
to deprive him of the initiative.”100
98
99
100

KUBARK, 90–91.
Mark Moyer, Phoenix and the Birds of Prey (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1997), 90.
KUBARK, 85.

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According to the tactical interrogation model, a source should be questioned
as soon as possible after capture to obtain time-perishable intelligence information.
In the strategic interrogation model, the importance of the time component has
less to do with the nature of the intelligence sought than with exploiting a unique
window of vulnerability in the detention experience.
Only a small percentage of military personnel, and a much smaller percentage
of terrorists and insurgents, have been exposed to resistance training that includes
the stress-inoculation of intensive practical exercises. As a result, the trauma and
the perceived chaos of capture — the so-called “shock of capture” — and initial
detention will likely prove profoundly unsettling and cause detainees to do and say
things against their interest that, upon reflection under more stable circumstances,
they would not do or say. In most instances, newly captured detainees expect the
worst in terms of treatment at the hands of the enemy and only later draw strength
from the realization that they will not be killed or brutally tortured. By exploiting
this initial period of overwhelming confusion, the well-trained and prepared
interrogator may be able to obtain useful information through the immediate
questioning of a source.
The shock of capture phenomenon is not necessarily limited to the initial
point of detention. Every time the detainee is transferred to new surroundings — a
new cell, a different wing of the current holding facility, or an entirely new facility
— a measure of shock of capture will likely occur. The detainee can be presented
with a strange setting, a different routine, new guards, and a fresh interrogator. The
rules of engagement in effect at the previous place of confinement may no longer
apply in the new facility. The trauma born of confusion, ambiguity, and negative
expectations can produce a new period of capture shock that an interrogator can
strategically exploit.
A creative and often effective strategy for profiting from the shock of capture
phenomenon is to use a dislocation of expectations approach. For example,
anticipating mistreatment in the hands of the “infidels,” the detainee may steel
himself for the worst, preparing mentally to respond to harsh approaches, abusive
language, and a blatant disregard for personal and cultural preferences. With such
hardened expectations, the detainee may be ill prepared to encounter someone
who affords him better treatment and demonstrates an impressive understanding
of his culture and language. Without a clear strategy at the ready for resisting this
unexpected turn of events, the source may find himself — similar to the situation
described above — responding to questions that he might choose to ignore or
outright refuse to answer later on.
Interrogation is both an art and a science, with the proportion attributed
to each difficult to determine precisely. In many instances, a “principle” of
interrogation (i.e., a concept or method that has proven consistently applicable
in a variety of circumstances) may have an equally true obverse. The KUBARK
manual emphasizes the importance of conducting early “reconnaissance” of a
source: screening and initial interrogation sessions designed exclusively to assess
personality, to identify strengths, and to probe for weaknesses. Only after this has

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been accomplished would the interrogator begin the formal examination process.
Such an approach has often proven effective.
The shock of capture phenomenon, by contrast, suggests that there are
instances where a brief window of opportunity presents itself for the interrogator
to question the source with little or no preliminary assessment. This approach has
also proven effective.
Which method is better? If research were able to provide a valid answer,
or to point to a protocol that could assist an interrogator in making the correct
call on a consistent basis, this would then become an element of the overall
interrogation process that could be moved from the category of “art” to “science.”
Until then, the selection of an approach for dealing with newly detained sources
remains not unlike the artist’s selection of paint from a palette filled with an array
of attractive hues…the appropriateness of the selection largely reflects the talent
of the artist.
The Challenge of Apathy
Little is gained if confinement merely replaces one routine
with another. Prisoners who lead monotonously unvaried lives
“cease to care about their utterances, dress, and cleanliness.
They become dulled, apathetic, and depressed.” And apathy
can be a very effective defense against interrogation.101
Little is known about the duration of confinement calculated
to make a subject shift from anxiety, coupled with a desire
for sensory stimuli and human companionship, to a passive,
apathetic acceptance of isolation and ultimate pleasure in the
negative state. Undoubtedly, the rate of change is determined
almost entirely by the psychological characteristics of the
individual.102
Once again, this observation demonstrates the unique challenge of source
management: a challenge made even more complex by the introduction of coercive
measures. Perhaps the principle to be drawn here is that the interrogator may use
the advantage of physical setting (i.e., confinement, routine, movement) to his
advantage…but only to a point. The prolonged effort to influence psychological
set by controlling the physical setting can quickly and unexpectedly become
counterproductive when, as in the scenario cited above, the source’s routine
existence and distant hope of release cause him to view his circumstances — and
his life, his future, and the prospects for change — with apathy.
This brings up a larger point about the fundamental nature of interrogation as
either a “push” or “pull” (“control” or “rapport”) phenomenon. In the former, the

101
102

KUBARK, 86.
KUBARK, 87.

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interrogator seeks to use his control advantages to introduce external, “moving
away” pressure on the source to comply. For example, the interrogator can place
the source in isolation; establish mind-numbing routine or constant, unsettling
change in the source’s daily activities; or introduce physicality into the interaction.
The myriad forms of coercive methods essentially attempt to obtain capitulation
in this manner.
By contrast, the “pull” approach views interrogation as not unlike a
recruitment. The interrogator, having invested sufficient time in assessing the
source’s personality and — most important — that which the source values,
seeks to introduce internal, “moving toward” pressure. When this is deftly
accomplished, the interrogator presents the source with an attractive goal (i.e.,
freedom, better treatment, communication with family) that appears to be within
the source’s sphere of influence through cooperative behavior. In essence, the
source comes to recognize — through implicit or explicit communication from
the interrogator — that the source’s actions can achieve these goals. For the
interrogator, the challenge is to ensure that the path to the source’s objectives will
lead directly through the accomplishment of the interrogator’s own objectives. In
a recruitment, this might mean that to achieve the source’s goal (e.g., removing the
autocratic regime currently ruling his country, sending his children to college in
the United States, etc.), the source would need to help the case officer by agreeing
to serve as an agent reporting on specific targets of intelligence interest. In an
interrogation, the line between the source and his or her goal (e.g., early release)
runs directly through the interrogator’s objective (i.e., actionable intelligence on
priority information requirements).
While a dearth of evidence exists regarding the efficacy of either the “push” or
“pull” model of interrogation, there are two important considerations, one relating
to time intensity and the other to the scope of information. Both approaches are
likely to be time-intensive (despite the seemingly popular belief that coercive
measures are more likely to produce the desired intelligence in time to resolve the
“ticking time-bomb” scenario). But in the best of circumstances, it is anticipated
that the control model would obtain information only in direct response to the
specific questions posed. In contrast, the “rapport” model is more likely to obtain
not only similar kinds of information, but also additional information within the
scope of the source’s knowledgeability that was not necessarily addressed by the
interrogator. In the former, the source seeks minimal fulfillment of requirements
to move away from the pressure of control; in the latter, the source is more prone
to provide satisfaction of requirements and additional self-initiated reporting to
enhance rapport…and expedite movement toward objectives.
The Effects of Isolation
“The symptoms most commonly produced by isolation are
superstition, intense love of any other living thing, perceiving
inanimate objects as alive, hallucinations, and delusions.”
The apparent reason for these effects is that a person cut
off from external stimuli turns his awareness inward, upon

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himself, and then projects the contents of his own unconscious
outwards….103
The stated objective of using isolation in the context of an interrogation is not
to inflict punishment, but to leverage the source into compliance, a state in which
the source is willing to answer pertinent questions on areas within the scope of
the source’s knowledgeability and direct access. Given the following description
of interrogation, drawn from U.S. Army Field Manual 34-52, Intelligence
Interrogation, obtaining source compliance would appear to be a critical step in
the overall process.
Interrogation is the process of questioning a source to obtain the
maximum amount of usable information. The goal of any interrogation is
to obtain reliable information in a lawful manner, in a minimum of time,
and to satisfy intelligence requirements of any echelon of command.104
(Emphasis added)
Since holding detainees under specific conditions of isolation for a sufficient
period of time appears to produce compliance — the willingness to respond to
questioning — and since compliance is a key step in the interrogation process,
logic would therefore suggest that isolation would be an effective interrogation
technique. The problem arises when one introduces an additional, indispensable
element to the concept of compliance. Given that the objective of an interrogation,
as set forth in FM 34-52, is to obtain usable and reliable information (and in a
lawful manner), compliance means not just the willingness to answer questions,
but also the ability.
Hinkle, whose medical studies serve as a major reference cited in the KUBARK
manual, raises fundamental questions about the ability of a source subjected to
extended isolation to provide meaningful, coherent answers in response to an
interrogator’s questions. He observed that “Any attempt to produce compliant
behavior by procedures which produce…disturbances of homeostasis, fatigue,
sleep deprivation, isolation, discomfort, or disturbing emotional states carries with
it the hazard of producing inaccuracy and unreliability.”105 (Emphasis added.)
Much of the Cold War-era research on Communist methods of interrogation
sanctioned by the U.S. Government was conducted to obtain a better understanding
of, and therefore an enhanced ability to withstand, coercive interrogation methods.
Therefore, emphasis on the subject’s vulnerability to compliance-inducing
techniques overshadowed the concept of the source’s ability to report information

103

KUBARK, 88.
Department of the Army, U.S. Army Intelligence And Interrogation Handbook (Guilford, CT:
The Lyons Press, 2005), 8.
105
Lawrence E. Hinkle, Jr., “The Physiological State of the Interrogation Subject as it Affects
Brain Function,” in The Manipulation of Human Behavior, 43.
104

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reliably.106 Perusing the literature on long-term isolation, one quickly draws the
conclusion that the subject experiences profound emotional, psychological, and
physical discomfort, and that such abuse would therefore fail to measure up to the
standards for the treatment of prisoners as set forth in international accords and
U.S. Federal statutes. In this alone, it fails one criterion of interrogation noted in
FM 34-52: lawfulness.
From a purely operational perspective, the effects of isolation can truly be a
double-edged sword. Isolation, especially in the initial stages of an interrogation,
is a fundamental strategy designed to prevent a source from collaborating with
other detainees (e.g., coordinating an overarching “story”) as well as from
drawing emotional and psychological strength from time spent in the company
of associates. This notwithstanding, the literature also suggests that effects of
isolation can significantly and negatively impact the ability of the source to recall
information accurately. Given that source veracity and the reliability of HUMINT
source reporting have long been viewed as problematic within the Intelligence
Community, long-term isolation of sources appears unlikely to produce useful
data.
The Interrogator’s Checklist
The KUBARK manual sets forth an Interrogator’s Checklist of 50
questions (although several have been deleted for security reasons) that would
be exceptionally useful in guiding the interrogator through all phases of the
interrogation process. With an uncommon degree of both depth and breadth, the
questions are arranged sequentially, enabling the interrogator not only to carefully
consider a broad range of complex factors involved in an extended interrogation,
but also to evaluate the results of the interrogation objectively. This latter aspect
would foster the type of reflection necessary to continually improve knowledge,
skills and abilities.
The checklist includes several questions that are particularly noteworthy.
It asks the interrogator, for instance, to consider whether the interrogation is
even necessary or if the information requirements could be satisfied through
other, overt sources (the “Going Next Door” approach cited previously). The
checklist reminds the interrogator of the importance of rapport, asking if it has
been established properly during the opening phase of the interrogation. If the
interrogator anticipates that the source will be resistant, it directs the interrogator’s
focus to the source of that resistance (e.g., fear, political convictions, stubbornness,
etc.).107
Intelligence analysts have described the changing tactics and strategies
employed by terrorists and insurgents as indicative of a learning organization.

106
This is an especially important observation to recall as individuals from the SERE community
contribute to the study of educing information from resistant sources. As with the research studies that
support them, SERE training and practical exercises focus on issues pertaining to compliance rather
than information reporting reliability.
107
KUBARK, 105–109.

138

The U.S. interrogation effort must similarly learn and adapt to the emerging
challenges it faces in gathering information from detainees. This checklist can
serve as a useful template for building a contemporary version tailored to meet
the unique requirements of educing information in response to current and future
challenges to the national security interests of the United States.
Bibliographic Reference
The KUBARK manual includes an extensive bibliography, including a
number of references produced by the notable researchers Biderman and Hinkle.
Also included are several military documents pertaining to interrogation developed
at Fort Holabird, the former center for military HUMINT operational training. For
security reasons, a number of references have been excised completely (evidenced
only by the remaining entry number in the bibliography).

Findings
A careful examination of the KUBARK manual yields a wealth of
potentially valuable concepts that either have the potential for immediate
application in the development of a next generation of tactics, techniques, and
procedures for educing information or that warrant further study by relevant
professionals. While most of these have been identified previously, a few
additional observations — some of which cross over two or more of the topics
addressed earlier — merit specific comment.
•

A theme that recurs in the KUBARK manual is that interrogation is
defined both by its intensely interpersonal nature and intractably shaped
by the unique personalities of both the interrogator and the source. This
observation suggests both an important avenue of research as well as a
notable caution. In describing interrogation as an “interpersonal” event,
it offers social scientists an important sense of how to approach — at
least initially — this complex activity. At the same time, it seems to offer
a reminder that, in many important ways, each interrogation is unique
and therefore one must be cautious in trying to apply a strategic template
that would prove effective in each case.

•

Because interrogation is a complex process, practitioners of the art of
interrogation require extensive training and progressive, supervised
experience to meet current and emerging operational requirements. From
the moment of capture, the value of a given source’s knowledgeability
begins to degrade as the gap in direct access to the information of
intelligence interest widens and memory for detail diminishes. The
windows of opportunity to gather information in response to priority
intelligence requirements are finite, especially those involving high-value
targets. In the course of an interrogation, errors in strategy, approach
planning, and actions are in many instances irreversible.

•

In seeking to identify an effective protocol for selecting and training a
cadre of interrogators who would ultimately be able to perform at this level,
the Intelligence Community might derive value from reviewing selection
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and training models for activities involving similarly intense psychophysical operations (e.g., sports, martial arts, surgery, psychotherapy,
etc.). Consideration might be given to modeling this internal-external
reference dynamic as executed by high-performing individuals with
the objective of designing methods for developing and enhancing the
necessary supporting skills and strategies.
•

The study of nonverbal communication highlights a central theme in the
Educing Information study: How do we know what we know? Given that
the search for timely, accurate, and responsive intelligence information
from a source can be easily corrupted by the misreading of a single
gesture or voice inflection, the importance of this avenue of research
cannot be overstated.

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6
Custodial Interrogations: What We Know,
What We Do, and What We Can Learn from
Law Enforcement Experiences
Ariel Neuman
Daniel Salinas-Serrano
Harvard Law School
April 2005
Conducted under the supervision of Professor Philip Heymann108

108
Completion of this paper would have been impossible without the invaluable assistance and
support of many individuals. First, we thank Harvard Law School professor Philip Heymann, Dr.
Robert Fein, and Secret Service Agent (Ret.) Bryan Vossekuil for their invaluable and unwavering
support, counsel, and advice throughout. Our countless meetings and conversations helped direct our
research and shape ideas without which our efforts would have come to a screeching halt. We are
also indebted to Supervisory Special Agent Brian Boetig, of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s
Law Enforcement Communication Unit, and the rest of the helpful staff at the FBI Academy in
Quantico, Virginia, for making our visit there an informative one. Likewise, our research would have
been significantly undermined without the incalculable assistance and hospitality of Mark Fallon,
Deputy Assistant Director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service Training Academy, and the
rest of the staff at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia. Finally, we
would like to thank Daniel J. Coleman, Deputy Superintendent and Commander of the Homicide
Unit of the Boston Police Department, Colin Sturgeon, Detective Superintendent of the Police
Service of Northern Ireland, and Lieutenant Albert F. Pierce, Jr., MIT Police Department, for sharing
their incomparable experience and perspectives on the topic of custodial interrogation. Any and all
mistakes or omissions contained in this paper are the sole responsibility of its authors.

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Abstract
This report explores both the literature and practice related to interrogation
of suspects in custody, focusing almost exclusively – as the literature and
practice do – on eliciting confessions to crimes. The theoretical literature
lays the groundwork for interrogation practice by identifying the reasons
why suspects do or do not confess to crimes, while empirical findings pinpoint factors associated with admissions and denials. Almost all manuals
on interrogation techniques cover the same aspects of successful interrogation as the seminal Reid Technique: (1) characteristics/qualifications of
the interrogator; (2) pre-interrogation fact gathering and analysis; (3) the
interrogation setting; (4) pre-interrogation interview and rapport-building; (5) analysis of behavioral symptoms; (6) interrogation of the suspect;
(7) detection of deceit; and (8) securing the confession. A comparison of
theory and technique reveals that the interrogation techniques advocated
in the literature take little account of the factors that the empirical research
shows might affect a suspect’s willingness to confess, and provide little or
no guidance to varying approaches for different types of suspects.
Against this background, the report next reviews training and practice at
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, and the Homicide Division of the Boston Police Department,
as well as the personal experience of a senior detective in the MIT Police Department. Findings indicate that federal and local organizations
provide little training specifically on interrogation; moreover, agencies
do not collect data to establish whether their operatives actually apply
the training they do receive, nor to evaluate the effectiveness of different interrogation approaches. Law enforcement officers report that innate
personality traits and on-the-job learning, rather than formal instruction
or guidelines, determine success as an interrogator.
The authors also interviewed senior officials in Northern Ireland to determine how practices in other countries differ from those in the United
States. A detective superintendent of the Police Service of Northern Ireland noted that rules recently adopted in Great Britain almost preclude
confessions by suspects; instead, interrogation is viewed as a part of an
information-gathering process.

142

While few U.S. jurisdictions require that interrogations be videotaped, the
law enforcement entities that use the practice report that it does not appear to
reduce the effectiveness of interrogations. In fact, videotaping should benefit
both the practice and outcome of interrogations by providing a record for
the courts and allowing supervisors to review and if necessary correct the
practices of their staffs.
The effectiveness of standard interrogation techniques has never been validated by empirical research. Moreover, techniques designed to obtain confessions to crimes may have only limited relevance to preventive investigations
of terrorist-related activities. The authors recommend further research addressing both issues, and also suggest that the United States consider adopting the practice of providing intensive training to a select group of professionals who would then conduct all interrogations.

Introduction
This paper has three primary purposes. First, it reviews the literature available
on the topic of interrogation to offer an organized and cohesive survey of the
available knowledge on the topic. Second, it seeks to present an overview of how
several domestic and foreign law enforcement agencies handle interrogations, both
in training and practice. Finally, the paper attempts to frame questions for further
study and to discern some potential lessons to be learned from law enforcement
for current and future terrorism-related situations in which interrogations might
be a relevant component.
This paper, like the project that sponsored it, does not attempt to offer novel
approaches to custodial interrogation, or to present groundbreaking psychological
insights into this investigative tool. The scope of the paper is further limited by the
subject matter it covers. It is decidedly not a general study on all possible aspects
and issues of police interviewing; instead, it focuses on situations that conform
generally to Inbau, Reid, Buckley, and Jayne’s definition of interrogation: “the
accusatory questioning of a suspect involving active persuasion that occurs in a
controlled environment when an investigator is reasonably certain of a suspect’s
guilt, for the purpose of learning the truth.”109 Thus, interviews of witnesses
and victims are outside the purview of this project; the paper deals only with
interrogations of suspects who are in custody or otherwise in an environment
controlled by the interrogators. Similarly, although there is a vast body of law
relevant to custodial interrogations, analysis of the relevant legal precedents and
rules is beyond the scope of this project. Finally, even though Inbau et al., as well
as many other authors, suggest that the goal of an interrogation may be something

109
Fred Inbau et al., Criminal Interrogations and Confessions, 4th ed. (Sudbury, MA: Jones and
Bartlett Publishers, 2004), 5–6.

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other than obtaining a confession, the paper mainly focuses on literature,
techniques, and practices aimed at eliciting confessions.110
To these ends, the paper is divided into three parts. Part I provides a survey and
review of the literature on interrogations. Section 1 focuses on the theoretical and
psychological literature about interrogations and confessions. Section 2 presents
and analyzes the empirical data available to support the theoretical approaches and
models. Section 3 surveys the practical literature on interrogations, covering the
major techniques and practical manuals on the subject. Section 4 briefly describes
how an interrogation can “go wrong,” and Section 5 discusses the extent to which
the practical literature takes the empirical data into account.
Part II presents a survey of law enforcement training and practice with respect
to interrogation. Sections 6, 7, and 8 review the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI), the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), and the Boston
Police Department Homicide Division, respectively. Section 9 presents a case
study of the training and practices of one very experienced U.S. interrogator, while
Section 10 examines practices in other countries, specifically Great Britain and
Israel. Section 11 then presents a survey of the arguments, issues, and practices
related to the video-recording of interrogations, and Section 12 attempts to tie
all of the practices together and compare them to the empirical and practical
literature presented in Part I.
Finally, in Part III, we offer some general conclusions and recommendations
for further study and research. Most important, we present some thoughts about
the relationship between, and applicability of, law enforcement interrogation
techniques and practices to the current terrorism problem.

PART I. LITERATURE REVIEW
Section 1. Theoretical Approaches to Confessions
Incriminating statements and confession in the context of a criminal
investigation usually entail serious consequences, ranging from reputational and
financial penalties to deprivation of liberty or life.111 Nonetheless, a substantial
number of interrogations yield a confession or some sort of incriminating
statement. This section explores the possible explanations for this phenomenon
offered by the psychological literature on interrogation and confessions.

110
Compare Inbau (noting that interrogation is best conceived as the psychological undoing
of deception) with R. Leo, “Inside the Interrogation Room,” The Journal of Criminal Law and
Criminology 86, no. 2 (Winter 1996), 279 (assuming that an interrogation is successful when the
suspect provides the detective with at least some incriminating information) and Gisli H. Gudjonsson,
The Psychology of Interrogation and Confessions: A Handbook (New York: Wiley, 2003), 2 (stating
that interrogations, like interviews, are a way of gathering information for use in further enquiries, but
are normally associated with criminal suspects).
111
Gudjonsson, p. 115.

144

Factors Inhibiting Confession
Gisli Gudjonsson identifies five factors that make it difficult for people to
confess to crimes they have committed. The first is the fear of legal sanctions.112
Generally, the severity of the potential sanction is directly proportional to the
seriousness of the offense and, as mentioned above, may include financial
sanctions, deprivation of liberty, and even the death penalty. Additionally, the
mere possibility of having a criminal record may be a powerful inhibitory force
for first-time offenders.113 Second, Gudjonsson points to reputational concerns
as a factor that may inhibit suspects from confessing.114 He suggests that the
higher the person’s standing in the community, the greater his or her reluctance
to confess.115 Third, Gudjonsson notes that an individual’s resistance to admit to
him or herself what he or she has done may also hinder confessions.116 Thus, the
more reprehensible the offense, the more likely offenders are to exercise denial
when interrogated.117 Fourth and somewhat related, a subject’s desire to keep his
or her family and friends ignorant about the crime may also affect his or her
willingness to confess.118 Finally, fear of retaliation, whether real or perceived,
may influence a subject’s decision.119 In this context, a suspect may implicate
others by confessing to a crime and, fearing retaliation, may thus refuse to confess.
Indeed, Gudjonsson notes that in some cases the fear of retaliation may be greater
than the fear of legal sanctions.120
Theoretical Models of Confession
A review of the available literature on interrogations and confessions reveals
various theoretical explanations of why suspects confess during custodial
interrogations. The following models examine confessions from different
perspectives and, taken together, provide important insights into the subject.121
The Reid Model
Drawing on the nine steps of interrogation devised by Inbau et al., Jayne
provides a theoretical-psychological model for the so-called Reid Technique.122
This model conceives of an interrogation as the psychological undoing of
deception.123 According to Jayne, in the context of criminal interrogation deception
can be defined as “a selected behavior of distorting or denying the truth for the

112

Id.
Id.
114
Id., p. 116.
115
Id.
116
Id.
117
Id.
118
Id., p. 116.
119
Id.
120
Id.
121
Id., p. 117.
122
Brian C. Jayne, “The Psychological Principles of Criminal Interrogation,” in Fred E. Inbau, et.
al., Criminal Interrogation and Confessions, 3rd edition (Baltimore, MD: Williams and Wilkins, 1986),
327-347. For a full explanation of the practical aspects of the Reid Technique, see discussion below.
123
Jayne, p. 327.
113

145

purpose of benefit to the individual.”124 Furthermore, in this context the common
motivation for all deception is avoidance of the consequences associated with
telling the truth.125 The two types of consequences of being truthful are labeled
“real” and “personal.”126 Real consequences generally involve financial penalties
or the loss of freedom or life, while personal consequences involve lowered
self-esteem and damaged integrity and reputation.127 According to the model,
successful deception is reinforced in accordance with operant conditioning
principles whereby undetected lying is rewarding and increases the chances of
further lying.128
However, successful socialization teaches individuals that it is wrong to
lie, which in many people brings about internal conflicts comprising feelings
of frustration and anxiety.129 The model predicts that the increased levels of
anxiety associated with lying induce a person to confess.130 The level of anxiety
is assumed to increase linearly from omission to evasion to blatant denial.131
Jayne notes that subjects may try to reduce anxiety through body movements or
physical activities, which work by displacement or distraction.132 Additionally,
the mind attempts to reduce anxiety through “a series of hypothetical constructs
called defense mechanisms,” which operate within the individual by distorting or
denying reality.133 The two main defense mechanisms relevant to interrogation are
rationalization and projection.134 Rationalization is the “act of redescribing what
a person does in such a way as to avoid any responsibility for the consequences
of his behavior.”135 Through the second defense mechanism, projection, a subject
“shifts the blame for his own thoughts or actions onto another person, place, or
thing” (e.g., the victim, alcohol use, etc.).136 Although, as noted, the defense
mechanisms of projection and rationalization function by distorting or denying
reality, this “does not mean that the individual loses touch with reality; reality has
merely been redefined.”137
According to the Reid Model, a suspect confesses when the perceived
consequences of a confession are more desirable than the anxiety generated
by the deception.138 The basic tenet of the model is that the interrogator can
psychologically manipulate both the perceived consequences of confessing

124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138

Id.
Id.
Id.
Id., p. 328.
Id.
Id., p. 329.
Id.
Id., p. 330.
Id.
Id., 331.
Id.
Id.
Id.
Id.
Id., p. 332.

146

and the suspect’s anxiety to obtain a confession.139 Thus, according to the Reid
Model, the goal of an interrogation is to “decrease the suspect’s perception of
the consequences of confessing, while at the same time increasing the suspect’s
internal anxiety associated with his deception.”140 Jayne identifies three basic
concepts relevant to the interrogator’s manipulation of the subject’s perception
of consequences and anxiety: expectancy, persuasion, and belief.141 Expectancy
refers to “a want or goal perceived as desirable or inevitable.” At the outset of an
interrogation deceptive subjects expect that, if they confess, the consequences (as
they perceive them at that time) are inevitable, and that the most desirable goal
would be not to confess.142 Persuasion is “a form of communication wherein the
listener’s attitudes, beliefs, or perceptions are changed.”143 Persuasion can change
expectancies, i.e., a suspect’s view of what is desirable.144 Belief, in turn, is “the
vehicle of persuasion,” in that a suspect’s beliefs are not fact and are therefore
subject to interpretation and external influence.145 In this context, an interrogator
must strive to “change the suspect’s perception of the consequences of confessing
or the suspect’s perception of the anxiety associated with deception by influencing
the subject’s beliefs.146
According to the model, there are four essential criteria for changing the
suspect’s expectancies and beliefs in order to garner a confession.

139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153

•

First, the subject must perceive the interrogator as a credible source
of information.147 According to Jayne, credibility is based on sincerity,
knowledge, and demeanor.148

•

Second, the interrogator must develop insight into the subject’s attitudes
and weaknesses.149 It is particularly important that the interrogator
assess the consequences that the suspect is trying to avoid by denial, and
evaluate the suspect’s ability to tolerate anxiety.150

•

Third, the subject must internalize the interrogator’s suggestion, because
this will change expectancies if the individual can be led to internalize
the interrogator’s message.151 This involves a three-stage process.152

•

First, the suspect must comprehend the interrogator’s ideas (relating).153

Id.
Id.
Id., p. 333.
Id.
Id.
Id.
Id.
Id.
Id., p. 334.
Id.
Id., p. 334-335.
Id., p. 335.
Id.
Id., p. 336.
Id.

147

•

Second, the suspect must agree and concur with the message
communicated by the interrogator (acceptance).154

•

Third, the suspect must internalize or believe the interrogator’s
suggestions (believing).155 This last point underscores the importance
of suggestibility in the confession process: the more suggestible the
suspect, the easier it is, theoretically, to obtain a confession.156

•

Finally, the interrogator must constantly monitor the subject’s feedback
to determine whether or not the subject accepts the theme, whether the
subject’s anxiety should be intensified, or if the timing of the presentation
of an alternative question is right.157

In this context, Jayne suggests several manipulative ploys that interrogators
can use to reduce the perceived consequences of confessing and increase the
perceived anxiety associated with deception. According to Jayne, perceived
consequences are generally reduced through the development of themes
that employ rationalization and/or projection.158 As defense mechanisms,
rationalization and projection reduce anxiety by altering the suspect’s perceptions
of the likely consequences of self-incriminating admissions.159 Jayne notes that
these two mechanisms are most effective in reducing the perceptions concerning
“real” consequences, whereas using sympathy and compassion as ploys is relatively
more effective in overcoming inhibitions about the perceptions of “personal”
consequences.160 Similarly, Jayne notes that anxiety must be independently
increased without increasing perceived consequences.161 Statements or actions
intended to increase anxiety “must be directed at the suspect’s perception of
himself within the interrogation environment.”162 Ultimately, the success of the
interrogation depends on the extent to which the interrogator is successful in
identifying psychological vulnerabilities, exploiting them to alter the suspect’s
belief system and perceptions of the consequences of making self-incriminating
admissions, and persuading him to accept the interrogator’s version of the
“truth.”
As explained in detail in Section 3, Jayne’s psychological model has
been incorporated into a comprehensive interrogation technique, the Reid
Technique, which has been described as the “most influential practical manual”
on interrogation.163 According to Gudjonsson, the Reid Technique rests on the
following basic assumptions:164

154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164

Id.
Id., p. 337.
See interrogative suggestibility discussion below.
Jayne, see note 122, p. 340.
Id.
Id.
Id., p. 341.
Id., p. 342.
Id., p. 343.
Gudjonsson, see note 110, p. 11.
Id.

148

•

Many criminal investigations can only be solved by obtaining a
confession.

•

Unless offenders are caught in the commission of a crime they will
ordinarily not give a confession unless they are interrogated over
an extended period of time in private, using persuasive techniques
comprising trickery, deceit and psychological manipulation.

•

To break down resistance, interrogators will need to employ techniques
that normally would be seen as unethical by the public.

Given these assumptions, Gudjonsson notes that the technique is broadly
based on two processes:165
1.

Breaking down denials and resistance, and

2.

Increasing the suspect’s desire to confess.

More specifically, the Reid Technique employs two main psychological
strategies throughout its nine steps of interrogation: maximization and
minimization.166 Maximization involves frightening suspects into a confession by
exaggerating the strength of evidence against them and the seriousness of the
offense.167 Minimization, in contrast, involves tricking suspects into a false sense
of security and thus into confessing by offering sympathy, providing face-saving
excuses, partly blaming the victim or circumstances for the alleged offense, and
minimizing the seriousness of the charges.168
Gudjonsson argues that the techniques advocated by Inbau and his colleagues
are practically and ethically problematic because they are inherently coercive
insofar as they communicate implicit threats and promises to suspects.169
Although it is outside the purview of this paper, we note that Gudjonsson’s main
criticism of the Reid Technique and its underlying psychological model is that
their coercive nature yields a far greater proportion of false confessions than is
tolerable. This criticism and concern over false confessions has been echoed by
other psychologists and experts in interrogations and confessions.170
The authors of the Reid Technique counter that the criticisms are better aimed
at actual law enforcement practice and misuse of the technique. According to
the John E. Reid and Associates official website, “the goal of the interrogation
process is to develop the truth. It is not a process designed to obtain a confession
by any means from any suspect.”171 The authors assert that by following the

165

Id.
Id., p. 21.
167
Id.
168
Id.
169
Id.
170
For further criticism of the Reid Technique, see R. Leo and R.J. Ofshe, “The Consequences of
False Confessions: Deprivation of Liberty and Miscarriages of Justice in the Age of Psychological
Interrogation,” Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 88, no. 2 (1998), 429-496.
171
John E. Reid and Associates, Defending the Reid Technique of Interrogation, at http://www.reid.
com/educational_info/critictechniquedefend.html, accessed 13 March 2005.
166

149

nine steps of their technique “[t]he interrogator [...] will be meeting all of the
guidelines established by the courts in conducting proper interrogations to develop
admissible confessions from guilty suspects.”172
Decision-Making Model
Hilgendorf and Irving have suggested an alternative concept of interrogations
and confessions.173 Their model provides a framework for analyzing “the
circumstances in which any particular confession was made in terms of the
decision-making task of the suspect, the information with which he is provided,
the social pressures which are brought to bear on him, and the physical character
of the interrogation.”174 It conceptualizes interrogation as a complicated and
demanding decision-making process.175 The subject of an interrogation must make
many choices, some of which include whether to speak or remain silent; whether
to make self-incriminating admissions or a confession; whether to tell the truth,
part of the truth, or lie; how to answer the questions asked by the interrogator; and
what attitude to adopt toward the police.176
Hilgendorf and Irving’s model predicts that subjects will seek to make the
best possible choice among the courses of action available by choosing “that
course for which the product of (1) the probability of occurrence and (2) the
value to him (or utility) of the consequences, is largest.”177 The subject’s action
will have consequences for him or her: criminal charges may be filed; he or she
may be detained; the police may check the information provided for accuracy
and truthfulness.178 Thus, he or she will attempt to evaluate the probabilities of
each consequence’s occurrence, and his or her decision about how to act will be
a “result of some balancing of the likelihood of various consequences in relation
to their utilities for him [or her].”179 Consequently, an interrogation subject’s
decisions are determined by:
•

Perceptions of the available courses of action.

•

Perceptions concerning the probabilities of the likely occurrence of
various consequences attached to these courses of action.

•

The utility values or gains attached to these courses of action.

Hilgendorf and Irving make clear that the subject’s decision making is
governed not by the objective probabilities that given consequences may occur,
but by the subjective probabilities of their occurrence.180 In other words, decisions

172

Id.
E.L. Hilgendorf and B. Irving, “A Decision-Making Model of Confessions,” in Psychology in
Legal Contexts: Applications and Limitations, M.A. Lloyd-Bostock, ed. (London, UK: Macmillan,
1981), 67-84.
174
Id., p. 81.
175
Id., p. 69.
176
Id.
177
Id.
178
Id.
179
Id., p. 70.
180
Id., p. 71.
173

150

are not based on what is objectively likely to happen, but on what the suspect
believes at the time to be the likely consequences.
Hilgendorf and Irving argue that threats and inducements, even when slight
and implicit, can markedly influence the suspect’s decision to confess because of
the perceived power the police have over the situation and the apparent credibility
of their words. Similarly, they point to a number of social, psychological, and
environmental factors that can affect or seriously impair the suspect’s decision
making during police interrogation. The most salient factors as listed by
Gudjonsson are as follows:181
•

The police can manipulate the social and self-approval utilities (like the
suspect’s feelings of competence and self-esteem) during interrogation
in order to influence his decision-making.

•

The interrogators can manipulate the suspect’s perceptions of the likely
outcome concerning a given course of action. For example, interrogators
can minimize the seriousness of the offense.

•

Interrogators can impair the suspect’s ability to cope with information
processing and decision-making through various means like social,
psychological and environmental manipulation.

Hilgendorf and Irving conclude that, given the interrogator’s considerable
authority, the interrogation situation puts strong pressure on suspects to place
excessive emphasis in their decision making on the approval or disapproval of
the interrogator, and to be extremely sensitive to all communications, both verbal
and non-verbal, that they receive from the interrogator.182 Physical confinement
supports and facilitates these pressures, and the effect becomes more pronounced
the longer the detention lasts. The combined effect of these pressures and other
forms of environmental and situational stress inherent in custodial interrogations
can adversely affect “efficient performance on the complex decision-making task”
confronting interrogation subjects.183
Psychoanalytic Model
Gudjonsson points out that this model rests upon the assumption that “the
feeling of guilt is the fundamental cause of confessions.”184 Based on Freudian
concepts of the id and ego, Reik’s work attempts to show that the unconscious
compulsion to confess plays a seminal role in crime.185 According to Reik, a
confession is “an attempt at reconciliation that the superego undertakes in order
to settle the quarrel between the ego and the id.”186 Thus, a confession primarily
serves the role of relieving people of the overwhelming feeling of guilt occasioned

181

Gudjonsson, see note 110, p. 122.
Hilgendorf and Irving, see note 173, p. 81.
183
Id.
184
Gudjonsson, see note 110, p. 122.
185
Theodor Reik, The Compulsion to Confess: On the Psychoanalysis of Crime and Punishment,
translated by Katherine Jones (New York: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, 1959).
186
Id., p. 216.
182

151

by their crime. Following Reik’s lead, Berggren espoused a psychological model
that seeks to explain the need of individuals to confess. In general, the model
postulates that people’s knowledge of their transgression produces a sense of guilt,
which is experienced as oppressive and depressing.187 The confession relieves
the individual from the guilt, producing important cathartic effects. However, as
Gudjonsson points out, the model remains controversial at best, as its foundational
theses have limited acceptance in the scientific community.188
Interaction Process Model
This model proposes that, regardless of a suspect’s actual involvement in a
crime, the interaction among three main sets of factors determines the individual’s
initial response to an allegation and the eventual outcome of an interrogation.189
These sets of factors are:190
•

Background characteristics of the suspect and offense

•

Contextual characteristics of the case

•

Interrogator’s questioning techniques

The first set of factors includes the suspect’s age, sex, and criminal history,
as well as the type and severity of the offense under investigation.191 The second
set encompasses the strength of the available evidence against the suspect and
the suspect’s access to legal advice.192 According to the model, the interrogator’s
questioning techniques are influenced by his beliefs about and attitudes toward the
characteristics of the suspect and the case, which in turn affect the suspect’s initial
response to an allegation.193 The suspect’s subsequent and final responses during
questioning will be determined by his calculation of the relative advantages of
response change (i.e., from an initial denial to an admission), brought about by
the interrogator’s reaction to the suspect’s initial response.194
After analyzing 1,000 cases in which suspects were interviewed by police
officers in England, Moston, Stephenson, and Williamson suggested that police
interviewing techniques played a relatively minor role in influencing confessions
for two main reasons.195 First, most admissions were freely volunteered at the outset
of interviews, and those suspects who denied an accusation at the outset typically
maintained this denial throughout, even in the face of seemingly incontrovertible
proof of guilt.196 Second, the authors found that police interviewing skills were

187

E. Berggren, The Psychology of Confessions (Leiden, The Netherlands: E.J. Brill, 1975).
Gudjonsson, see note 110, p. 122.
189
Stephen Moston, “From Denial to Admission in Police Questioning of Suspects,” in Psychology,
Law and Criminal Justice, Graham Davies et al. eds. (UK: Walter de Gruyter, 1996), 92.
190
Id.
191
Id.
192
Id.
193
Id.
194
Id.
195
S. Moston et al., “The Effects of Case Characteristics on Suspect Behaviour During Police
Questioning, British Journal of Criminology 32 (1992), 23-40.
196
Moston, see note 195, p. 92.
188

152

almost nonexistent and interrogators employed only a limited range of questioning
techniques.197 According to Gudjonsson, the main limitation of the model is that it
does not focus on the mental state and cognitive processes of the suspect.198
Interrogation as Dialogue
An alternate and less traditional view conceives of interrogation as a dialogue
between suspect and interrogator, “characterized by an adversarial element.”199
This model places great importance on understanding how the interrogation fits
into the scheme of critical dialogues in which individuals engage every day so
as to allow interrogators to overcome hurdles encountered in the interrogation
process and to give them ideas of how to move the dialogue forward at stalled
moments.
Although Walton suggests that the interrogation is a form of informationseeking dialogue, he recognizes that “to conduct an interrogation as if it were
a persuasion dialogue, or a normal information-seeking dialogue, would result
in argumentation that is inappropriate, and even useless for this purpose.”200
Moreover, unlike a traditional critical conversation, broken into stages where both
participants decide when to move from one stage to the next, the stages of the
interrogation (formative, preparatory, argumentation, and closing) “proceed not by
the agreement of both parties, but by the unilateral choices of the interrogator.”201
Indeed, “interrogation is a type of asymmetrical dialogue in which one party tends
to be very powerful and the other party tends to be very passive.”202 Because of
this, Walton argues that “the questioner must use tricky techniques to get any
results.”203 Walton’s recommendations for the questioner include to 1) “appear
friendly and cooperative, even sympathetic to the respondent;” 2) “be very
patient, and give plenty of time for answers;” 3) “be methodical, and go by a list
of questions that have been previously prepared;” 4) “repeat questions that have
not yet been answered;” and 5) have the interrogation “go on for a long, indefinite
period of time.”204
Within the context of interrogation as dialogue, Walton then identifies a
number of argumentation techniques that may be used in interrogations. The
first suggested technique is “the easiest way out,” whereby the interrogator seeks
to “wear the respondent down, and then inform him that if [he] just confess[es],
or give[s] [the interrogator] the desired information, then [his] problems will
be over.”205 Similarly, the interrogator can use “the only way out” technique
whereby he or she makes the conditions “unbearable for the respondent…such
197

Id.
Gudjonsson, see note 110, p. 124.
199
Douglas Walton, “The Interrogation as a Type of Dialogue,” Journal of Pragmatics 35, no. 12
(December 2003), 1771-1802.
200
Id., p. 1798.
201
Id.
202
Id., p. 1799.
203
Id., p. 1778.
204
Id.
205
Id., p. 1784.
198

153

that he [finds] it intolerable to continue.”206 Additionally, the interrogator can
use his authority as a leverage mechanism, and Walton recommends that he or
she interrogate “an uneducated or unintelligent criminal suspect as if [he or she]
were questioning a child.”207 Walton also points to other techniques such as use
of hypnosis, catching the subject off guard, fostering the belief that the suspect is
not being interrogated, misrepresenting the law, distorting the seriousness of the
offense, using threats, leading the suspect to believe that the interrogators already
know everything, and sympathizing with the subject.208
According to Walton, understanding the rules of dialogue that interrogation
participants follow, whether consciously or unconsciously, should, in theory, help
the interrogator understand both his approaches and responses to the suspect, as
well as the suspect’s various approaches and responses during the course of the
interview. This would allow the interrogator to adjust, take unexpected tacks, and
generally conduct a more successful interrogation. Walton formulates ten rules for
questioner (“proponent”) and suspect (“respondent”) in the interrogation dialogue,
assuming “that the respondent does not want to give out the information, or at least
all of it, but wants to appear compliant by taking part in the dialogue.”209 Taking
Walton’s assumptions, the “rules” of the interrogation dialogue for questioner and
suspect are:210

206
207
208
209
210

1.

The respondent needs to take care not to inadvertently say
something that might give out the information he wants to
conceal, or to allow the proponent to infer it;

2.

The proponent may coerce the respondent to reveal the
information through threats or sanctions, but only by the means
allowed;

3.

The proponent needs to pose questions to the respondent, and
these questions can, and often should be, leading, loaded, and
deceptive;

4.

The respondent should answer in formulations that are vague,
ambiguous, misleading, or confusing, if that will help serve his
ends;

5.

The proponent should probe critically into the respondent’s
prior replies, and try to use them to extract information;

6.

The respondent should take care to try to be consistent in his
replies and in the commitments that can be inferred from them;

7.

If the proponent finds inconsistencies in the respondent’s
commitments, or implausible statements, or statements that are

Id., p. 1785.
Id.
Id., p. 1785-86.
Id., p. 1780.
Id.

154

inconsistent with information from other sources, she should
ask questions that critically examine them;
8.

If the proponent extracts the information she wants from the
respondent, then she has achieved her goal and the dialogue
concludes in her favor;

9.

If the proponent terminates the interrogation without getting
the information she wants, and the respondent preserves his
interests, the dialogue concludes in the respondent’s favor;

10. The two parties can use any arguments, even ones considered
irrelevant or fallacious from the viewpoint of a critical discussion,
to achieve their ends.
Walton also points out that “appeals to fear and threats have long been
known to be powerfully effective arguments,”211 and that the “logically fallacious”
character of such threats does not diminish their effectiveness in the interrogation
dialogue.212 Of course, if the suspect/respondent is totally unresponsive, Walton’s
rules have little application, and one must turn to the Reid Technique or other
techniques explored in this paper in order to obtain information from the suspect.
Cognitive-Behavioral Model
Mainly espoused by Gudjonsson, the cognitive-behavioral model views
confessions as resulting from “the existence of a particular relationship between
the suspect, the environment and significant others within that environment.”213
It suggests that it is helpful to look at the “antecedents” and “consequences” of
confessing behavior within the framework of behavioral analysis.214 Antecedents
are the kinds of events occurring prior to interrogation that may trigger or facilitate
the confession.215 Consequences refer to the effects of a confession or admission
upon the subject. There are two major types: short term and long term.216 Shortterm consequences occur within minutes or hours of the suspect’s confession,
while long-term consequences manifest themselves within days, weeks, months,
or years of the confession.217 The types of consequences depend on the nature and
circumstances of the case and the psychological characteristics of the individual
concerned.218
As explained below, antecedents and consequences are construed in
terms of social, emotional, cognitive, situational and physiological events.219
Though these are discussed in greater detail below, the following Table provides a

211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219

Id., p. 1788.
Id.
Gudjonsson, see note 110, p. 124.
Id.
Id., p. 125.
Id.
Id.
Id.
Id.

155

useful yet non-exhaustive illustration of the typical antecedents and consequences
associated with confessions.
Antecedents

Consequences
Short-Term

Long-Term

Social
Isolation; police
pressure

Police approval/praise

Disapproval

Emotional
Distress

Feelings of relief

Feelings of guilt, shame

Cognitive
“The police know I
did it.”
“The truth will come
out in the end.”
“Perhaps I did do it
but I can’t
remember it.”

“It’s good to get it off my “What is going to happen
chest.”
to me now?”
“My solicitor will sort it
out.”

“This is very
serious.”’

“How could I have done
such a dreadful thing?”

“I’m now certain I had
nothing to do with it.”

Situational:
Nature of the arrest:
Confinement?
Solicitor present?
Caution understood?
Familiarity with
police procedures?

Charged, allowed access Judicial proceedings
to a solicitor

Physiological
Aroused physical
state, inhibitions
reduced by alcohol
or drugs; drug
withdrawal

Arousal reduction

Arousal returns to base
level

The antecedents and consequences of confessions.220
Source: The authors.

220

Id.

156

Social Events
The first type of social influence that an interrogation exerts upon the subject
is isolation from his or her family and friends.221 Interrogation manuals commonly
place great emphasis on isolating the suspect from any external influence that may
reduce his or her willingness to confess.222 The second kind of social influence,
police pressure, relates to the nature of the interrogation itself.223 As is illustrated
by the Reid Model described above, the social process and interaction between
interrogator and subject is an important factor in obtaining a confession. In this
context, the immediate consequence of confessing is social reinforcement by
the police interrogators, who might praise the subject for cooperation and for
owning up to what he or she has done.224 Additionally, the subject may be allowed
access to visitors such as family members and, in some cases, may be allowed
to go home.225 The long-term consequences commonly involve the defendant’s
having to come to terms with social disapproval from the media and the general
public.226
Emotional Events
Being arrested and brought to a police station is an undoubtedly stressful
event. Generally, suspects can be expected to experience considerable levels of
anxiety and distress, caused mainly by the uncertainty of the situation, the fear
of what will happen at the station, the fear of being locked in a cell, and the fear
of the consequences regarding the offense.227 There are two distinct emotional
experiences relevant to confessions: guilt and shame.228 Shame is best viewed as a
degrading, humiliating experience, and it often accompanies a sense of exposure.229
In contrast, guilt is associated with some real or imagined past transgression that
is inconsistent with the person’s internalized values and standards.230 Whereas a
feeling of guilt motivates people to confess, a feeling of shame has the reverse
effect.231 After confessing, suspects may experience a sense of emotional
relief as the immediate pressure is lifted and they have greater certainty about
their immediate future.232 However, at the prospect that the subject’s role in or
commission of the crime will become known, a feeling of shame sometimes sets
in or becomes exacerbated.233

221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233

Id., p. 126.
Id.
Id.
Id.
Id.
Id.
Id.
Id.
Id.
Id.
Id.
Id.
Id., p. 127.

157

Cognitive Events
Cognitive factors comprise the suspect’s thoughts, interpretations,
assumptions, and perceived strategies of responding to the interrogative
situation.234 According to Gudjonsson, it is important to remember that the
suspect’s behavior during the interrogation is likely to be more influenced by
his or her perceptions, interpretations, and assumptions about what is happening
than by the actual behavior of the police/interrogators.235 One possible cognitive
antecedent to a confession occurs when the suspect perceives the evidence against
him as being strong; he is more likely to confess if he believes there is no point
in denying the offense.236 Another possible cognitive factor involves suspects’
“talking themselves into confessing” if they believe the interrogator will not relent
until he has obtained a confession, or if they believe that the police have sufficient
evidence to prove that they committed the offense.237 An innocent person’s faith
that the truth will eventually come out through the criminal justice system can
also facilitate a (false) confession.238 Finally, innocent suspects who begin to
doubt their own recollection of events in the face of pressing interrogation may
eventually yield to the suggestions of the interrogator and come to believe that
they committed the crime.239
The immediate cognitive consequences of confessing may relate to thoughts
associated with the easing of the pressure.240 For some suspects, especially
innocent ones, the belief that their legal representative will sort everything out
may predominate.241 On the other hand, suspects who mistakenly accept guilt
because of confusion about their recollection and acceptance of the interrogator’s
suggestions may come to wonder how they could have committed such a deed
and have no recollection of it.242 Eventually, after their confusion subsides, they
may again become fully convinced that they had nothing to do with the crime to
which they previously confessed.243
Situational Events
These factors are potentially infinite. As Gudjonsson points out, “the
circumstances of the suspect’s arrest (e.g., being arrested suddenly in the early
hours of the morning) may affect the suspect’s ability to cope with the subsequent
interrogation.”244 Similarly, the time and conditions of confinement prior to
interrogation may affect the subject’s performance: “being locked up in a police
cell for several hours or days may ‘soften up’ subjects (i.e., weaken their resistance)

234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244

Id.
Id.
Id.
Id.
Id.
Id.
Id.
Id.
Id.
Id.
Id.

158

and make them more responsive to interrogation.”245 Conversely, familiarity with
police procedures and interrogation “is likely to provide suspects with knowledge
and experience that make them more able to understand and assert their rights.”246
The immediate situational consequence commonly associated with a confession
is that the suspect is charged with the offense.247 The long-term consequence is
possible prosecution and judicial proceedings.248
Physiological Events
The physiological antecedent to a confession is “heightened arousal, which
includes increased heart rate, blood pressure, rate and irregularity of respiration,
and perspiration.”249 These occur because “suspects are commonly apprehensive,
worried and frightened.”250 Once the suspect has confessed, “there is likely to be
a sharp reduction in his level of physiological and subjective arousal because of
greater certainty about the immediate future.”251 Arousal may then return to its
normal level, though Gudjonsson notes that uncertainty about the pending charge
or prosecution “may lead to an increased subjective and physiological state of
arousal.”252
Interrogative Suggestibility
Some experts, led by Gudjonsson and Clark, have dedicated considerable
research to the application of suggestibility in police interrogation.253 Interrogative
suggestibility is central to the social-psychological model described above. There
are two main theoretical approaches to interrogative suggestibility: the individual
differences approach and the experimental approach.254 Although they offer
different perspectives, the models complement each other.255 The former approach
is best illustrated by the work of Gudjonsson and Clark256 and the latter by the
work of Schooler and Loftus.257 The experimental approach places emphasis on
“understanding the conditions under which leading questions are likely to affect
the verbal accounts of witnesses.”258 Thus, interrogative suggestibility is viewed
as being “mediated by a central cognitive mechanism, referred to as discrepancy

245

Id., p. 127-128.
Id., p. 128.
247
Id.
248
Id.
249
Id.
250
Id.
251
Id.
252
Id.
253
Gisli H. Gudjonsson, “The Application of Interrogative Suggestibility to Police Interviewing,”
in Human Suggestibility, John F. Schumaker, ed. (UK: Routledge, 1991), 279-288.
254
Id., p. 279.
255
Id., p. 279.
256
Gisli H. Gudjonsson and N. Clark, “Suggestibility in Police Interrogation: A Social-Psychological
Model,” Social Behaviour 1 (1986), 83-104.
257
J.W. Schooler and E.F. Loftus, “Individual Differences and Experimentation: Complementary
Approaches to Interrogative Suggestibility,” Social Behaviour 1 (1986), 105-12.
258
Gudjonsson, see note 253, p. 279.
246

159

detection.”259 The implication drawn from the model is that people are suggestible
“when the conditions are such that they are unable to discriminate satisfactorily
between what they observed and what is suggested to them.”260
On the other hand, the individual differences approach “has specific
applicability to police interrogation and views suggestibility as being dependent
upon the coping strategies that people can generate and implement when
confronted with the uncertainty and expectations of the interrogative situation.”261
The model tries to “explain individual differences in suggestibility,” and its main
premise is that “people vary considerably in their reactions to police interrogation,
even when the conditions of the situation are similar.”262 Gudjonsson and Clark
define interrogative suggestibility as “the extent to which, within a closed
social interaction, people come to accept the messages communicated during
formal questioning, as the result of which their subsequent behavioral response
is affected.”263 Thus, the definition implies the following five interrelated
components:264
•

A closed social interaction between interrogator and subject.

•

A questioning procedure that involves two or more participants.

•

A suggestive stimulus.

•

Acceptance of the suggestive stimulus.

•

A behavioral response to indicate whether or not the suggestion is
accepted.

Given these characteristics, Gudjonsson argues that interrogative suggestibility
differs from other types of suggestibility in four respects:265
•

It involves questioning procedures within a closed social interaction.

•

The questions asked deal mainly with past experiences and events,
recollections, and remembered states of knowledge, as opposed to
traditional types of suggestibility, which are primarily concerned with
motor and sensory experiences of the immediate situation.

•

It has a strong component of uncertainty related to the cognitive
processing capacity of the individual.

•

It typically involves a highly stressful situation with important
consequences for the person being interviewed.

Thus understood, the Gudjonsson model is “essentially a social-psychological
model, where interrogative suggestibility is construed as arising through a
particular relationship between the person, the environment, and significant
259
260
261
262
263
264
265

Id.
Id.
Id.
Id.
Id., p. 280.
Id.
Id., p. 280-281.

160

others within that environment.”266 The model recognizes and incorporates the
importance of feedback to interrogative suggestibility, and conceptualizes it as “a
signal communicated by an interrogator to a witness [or suspect], after he/she has
responded to a question or a series of questions, intended to strengthen [(positive
feedback)] or modify [(negative feedback)] subsequent responses of the witness
[or suspect].”267 The interrogator can communicate feedback both implicitly and
explicitly.268 Repeated questioning is one example of implicit negative feedback.269
Implicit positive feedback may consist of providing refreshments, praise, or
sympathy to the subject after he or she begins to give desired answers to the
interrogator’s questions.270 Explicit negative feedback, on the other hand, consists
of open statements by the interrogator to the effect that he or she thinks that the
interviewee has made a mistake or is lying.271 Similarly, an interrogator may offer
explicit positive feedback by using responses like “good,” “that’s right,” or “now we
are getting somewhere” to reinforce wanted or accepted answers by the subject.272
Gudjonsson argues that feedback, and especially negative feedback, may have
“dramatic effects upon the subsequent behavior of an interviewee.”273 He suggests
that negative feedback has two distinct effects: “it (a) makes interviewees change
or shift their previous answers, and (b) heightens their responsiveness to further
leading questions.”274
As mentioned above, Gudjonsson’s model states that interrogative
suggestibility is “dependent upon the coping strategies that subjects can
generate and implement when dealing with the uncertainty and expectations of
interrogation.”275 According to Gudjonsson, the three necessary prerequisites for
the process of suggestibility are uncertainty, interpersonal trust, and expectation
of success.276
The uncertainty derives from the fact that the subject does not know
for certain the right answer to a question and is therefore potentially open to
suggestion.277 This may occur, for example, when the subject’s memory about the
event is incomplete or nonexistent.278 According to Gudjonsson, subjects can only
be described as suggestible when they “privately accept the suggestion offered
or at least believe it to be plausible.”279 Thus, suggestible subjects are different
from compliant ones, who “accept a suggestion contained in a leading question,

266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279

Id., p. 281.
Id..
Id.
Gudjonsson, see note 110, p. 350.
Id.
Id.
Id.
Id., p. 350-51.
Id., p. 351.
Gudjonsson, see note 253, p. 281.
Id.
Id.
Gudjonsson, see note 110, p. 348.
Id.

161

knowing that it is wrong, because they are eager to please the interrogator or are
reluctant to disagree with the suggestion openly.”280
Interpersonal trust is important because, to yield to suggestion, the subject
must believe “that the interrogator’s intentions are genuine and that there is no
trickery involved in the questioning.”281 According to Gudjonsson, interviewees
who are suspicious of the interrogator’s intentions “will be reluctant to accept
suggestions offered, even under conditions of increased uncertainty.”282 Finally,
Gudjonsson points out that although uncertainty and interpersonal trust are
necessary to make people yield to suggestion they are not sufficient, because an
uncertain subject can answer with “don’t know,” “not sure,” or “can’t recall.”283
Consequently, it is important that the interrogator communicate, either implicitly
or explicitly, an expectation of success about the subject’s performance: the goal
is to make the subject feel that he or she should be able, and indeed is expected, to
provide a definite answer to the interrogator’s questions.284
Ultimately, the model predicts that “most people are open to suggestion
when the necessary conditions of uncertainty, interpersonal trust and heightened
expectations are present.”285 From these predictions, it can be hypothesized
that “the three components, uncertainty, interpersonal trust, and expectations
can be manipulated by the interrogator to alter the subject’s susceptibility
to suggestion.”286 Similarly, it can be theorized that “people who enter the
interrogation with a suspicious cognitive set (e.g., those who do not trust the
police or are suspicious of them) are less suggestible than those with a trusting
cognitive set.”287 Gudjonsson also hypothesizes that “people with poor memory
recollection and low intelligence are generally more suggestible than those with
high cognitive capabilities,” and that suggestibility is “related to such variables as
low self-esteem, lack of assertiveness, and anxiety.”288
Gudjonsson developed a suggestibility scale to test his interrogative
suggestibility model and the hypotheses derived from it. The Gudjonsson
Suggestibility Scale can be used “to assess the individual’s responses to ‘leading
questions’ and ‘negative feedback’ instructions when being asked to report a
factual event from recall.”289 The scale employs a narrative paragraph describing
a fictitious mugging, which is read aloud to the subjects. They are then asked
to report all they can recall about the story, after which each person is asked
20 specific questions, 15 of which are subtly misleading. After answering the
20 questions the person is told that he or she has made a number of errors, and

280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289

Id.
Id., p. 349.
Id.
Id., p. 350.
Id.
Gudjonsson, see note 253, p. 282.
Id.
Id.
Id.
Id., p. 283.

162

that it is necessary to ask the questions again. The person is also asked to be
more accurate than before. Any change in the person’s answers is noted as a
“shift.” The extent to which people give in to the misleading questions is scored
as “yield.” “Yield” and “shift” are typically added together to make up “total
suggestibility.”290 According to Gudjonsson, two studies have shown that “it is
possible to manipulate the expectations of the subjects (as described above) prior
to interrogation in order to reduce or enhance suggestibility.”291
In Gudjonsson and Hilton’s study, a significant difference in suggestibility
was found between three groups of people who were given different instructions
about their expected performance.292 One group of people (the “High expectation
group”) was told that they were expected to remember most of the story and give
definite answers to all the questions. The second group was given no instructions
about their expected performance. The third group (the “Low expectation group”)
was told that they were not expected to find a definite answer to all the questions.
The most important implication of this finding for police interrogation is that
interrogators “should be aware that certain expectations communicated to subjects
prior to or during the interview can markedly affect the accuracy of the information
obtained.”293 Gudjonsson also has noted that interrogative suggestibility “is
significantly related to the coping strategies that subjects report using during the
test.”294 According to his findings, subjects who proved most suggestible “tended
to use ‘avoidance’ coping during the interrogation.”295 Gudjonsson notes that this
means that they failed “to evaluate each question critically and gave answers that...
seemed plausible and consistent with the external cues provided.”296 In contrast,
non-suggestible subjects “were able to adopt a critical analysis of the situation
which facilitated the accuracy of their answers.”297

Section 2. Empirical Findings
Most of the recent empirical studies on confessions have been conducted in
England.298 With the exception of the 1996 study by Richard Leo discussed below,
most of the U.S. studies date back to the 1960s and have largely focused on
studying the effects of the Miranda ruling on the frequency with which suspects
waive their rights and confess.
How Often Do Suspects Confess?
Research shows that many suspects interrogated at police stations confess
to the crime of which they are accused and that a further proportion make
290

Id., p. 283.
Id., p. 284.
292
Gisli H. Gudjonsson and M. Hilton, “The Effects of Instructional Manipulation on Interrogative
Suggestibility,” Social Behaviour 4 (1989), 189-93.
293
Gudjonsson, see note 253, p. 285.
294
Id.
295
Id.
296
Id.
297
Id.
298
Gudjonsson, see note 110, p. 130.
291

163

self-incriminating statements that fall short of a full confession.299 Inbau et al.
claim that in the United States the great majority of suspects initially deny their
involvement in the offense, but, when the Reid Technique is used, about 80%
of the denials change to confessions. However, there is no empirical evidence
to support this claim.300 In contrast to claims by Inbau et al., British research
indicates that a confession or admission typically occurs at the beginning of an
interview and the suspect usually sticks to his chosen position throughout the
interview regardless of the technique used.301 The table below lists British and
U.S. studies that represent the available data on confession rates in both countries.
Because Richard Leo’s 1996 study stands as the only U.S. study of its kind since
the 1960s, we will discuss it in further detail below.

Sample

Confession/ Proportion
admission
having legal
(%)
advice (%)

Crown
Court files

282

76

N/A

USA

Survey

173

42

N/A

Irving

England

Observational

60

62

10

Irving and
McKenzie

England

Observational

68 (1986)

65

29

68 (1987)

46

31

Leo

USA

Observational 182

42

N/A

Mitchell

England

Crown Court
files

394

71

N/A

Moston and
Stephenson

England

Questionnaire

558

59

14

Moston,
Stephenson,
Williamson

England

Taped
interviews

1067

42

41

Neubauer

USA

Case files

248

47

N/A

Pearse et
al.

England

Taped
interviews

161

58

56

Study

Country Type ofData

Baldwin and
McConville

England

Cassell and
Hayman

A

299
300
301

Id.,133.
Id.
Id.

164

Study

Country

Type ofData

Sample

Confession/
admission
(%)

Proportion
having
legal
advice (%)

Phillips
and
Brown

England

Police
documents/
questionnaires

4250

55

33

Softley

England

Observational

187

61

9

Zander

England

Crown Court
files

282

76

N/A

KLM
Proportion of suspects who confess or make admission.302
Source: The authors; data compiled from references shown sequentially
in box below.
J. Baldwin and M. McConville, Confessions in Crown Court Trials, Royal
Commission on Criminal Procedure Research Study No. 5 (London:
Her Majesty’s Stationery Office (HMSO), 1980).
P.G. Cassell and B.S. Hayman, “Police Interrogation In the 1990s: An
Empirical Study of the Effects of Miranda”, in The Miranda Debate,
Justice and Policing, R.A. Leo and G.C. Thomas III, eds. (Boston,
MA: Northeastern University Press, 1998), 222-235.
B. Irving, Police Interrogation. A Case Study of Current Practice, Research
Studies No. 2 (London: HMSO, 1980).
B. Irving and I.K. McKenzie, Police Interrogation: The Effects of the Police
and Criminal Evidence Act (London: The Police Foundation, 1989).
R. Leo, “Inside the Interrogation Room,” The Journal of Criminal Law and
Criminology, 86, no. 2 (Winter 1996): 266-303.
B. Mitchell, “Confessions and Police Interrogations of Suspects,” Criminal
Law Review (September 1983), 596-604.
S.J. Moston and G.M. Stephenson, “Predictors of Suspect and Interviewer
Behaviour During Police Questioning,” in Psychology and Law:
International Perspectives, F. Loesel et al. eds. (UK: Walter de
Gruyter, 1992), 212-218.
S. Moston et al., “The Effects of Case Characteristics on Suspect Behaviour
during Police Questioning,” British Journal of Criminology 32
(1992): 23-40.

302

Id., 137

165

D.W. Neubauer, “Confessions in Prairie City: Some Causes and Effects,”
Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology 65 (1974), 103-112.
J. Pearse et al., “Police Interviewing and Psychological Vulnerabilities:
Predicting the Likelihood of a Confession,” Journal of Community
and Applied Social Psychology 8, no. 1 (1998), 1-21.
C. Phillips and D. Brown, Entry into the Criminal Justice System: A Survey of
Police Arrests and their Outcomes, Home Office Research Study no.
185 (London: HMSO, 1998).
P. Softley, Police Interrogation. An Observational Study in Four Police
Stations, Home Office Research Study no. 61(London: HMSO, 1980).
M. Zander, “The Investigation of Crime: A Study of Cases Tried at the Old
Bailey,” Criminal Law Review (1979), 203-219.

Even a cursory study of these data makes clear that the admission/confession
rate is substantially (about 15%) lower in the United States than in England.
However, Gudjonsson cautions against drawing any conclusions from this disparity
for several reasons. First, he notes that generalizations from the available data
may be unwise given “the scarcity of recent studies in the United States and the
relatively low number of cases evaluated in each study.”303 Second, differences
between England and the United States in confession rates “may relate to the
greater impact of the Miranda rules on the confession rate than the restrictions
imposed on British law enforcement.”304 Third, Gudjonsson suggests that many
English legal representatives at police stations might be “passive and ineffectual in
their role.”305 Finally, he notes that confession rate differences across nations “may
be related to cultural factors influencing both police and suspects.”306 Additionally,
it should be noted that the data cited in Table 2 for the most recent U.S. study
(Leo, 1996) do not include suspects who made incriminating statements shy of
an admission or confession. As explained below, inclusion of these figures would
dramatically alter the results.
Richard Leo’s 1996 study of interrogation practices in the United States
involved nine months of observational work inside a major urban police
department in the United States, where he contemporaneously observed 122
interrogations involving 45 different detectives.307 Leo also viewed 30 videotaped
custodial interrogations performed by a second police department, and another
30 videotaped interrogations performed by a third.308 Generally, Leo sought to

303
304
305
306
307
308

Gudjonsson, see note 110, p. 139.
Id., 139-40.
Id., 140.
Id.
Leo, see note 110, p. 268.
Id.

166

observe and document the interrogation tactics used by interrogators and the
suspects’ reactions to them. For each interrogation, Leo recorded his observations
qualitatively in the form of field notes and quantitatively with a 47-question
coding sheet.309 Leo noted that interrogations could yield four possible outcomes:
(1) the suspect provided no information to the police that he or she considered
incriminating; (2) the suspect (intentionally or not) provided some information that
police considered incriminating, but did not directly admit to any of the elements
of the crime; (3) the suspect admitted to some, but not all, of the elements of the
crime; and (4) the suspect provided a full confession.310 The table below displays
the data from Leo’s study.
Subject’s Response to Interrogation Frequency (%)
No incriminating statement

35.71

Incriminating statement

22.53

Partial admission

17.58

Full confession

24.18

Outcome of interrogations in the United States.311

Contrary to other authors such as Gudjonsson, who limit their scope to
confessions and/or admissions, Leo operated under the assumption that an
interrogation is successful “when the suspect provides the detective with at least
some incriminating information.”312 Taking this assumption as given, Leo’s
studies reveal that “almost two-thirds (64.29%) of the interrogations [he] observed
produced a successful result.”313
However, that a substantial proportion of suspects subjected to interrogation
end up confessing says nothing about the reasons behind those confessions. The
next section attempts to shed some empirical light on why suspects confess.
Factors Associated with Admissions and Denials
Background Characteristics of the Suspect
Studies suggest that certain types of subjects are more likely to confess or
make incriminating admissions than others. The more salient factors are:
1. Age: Age is often considered an indirect measure of maturity, and more
mature suspects usually cope better with the unfamiliarity and demands of police
interrogation than less mature suspects.314 Gudjonsson notes that, although it

309

Id.
Id.
311
As noted in the text, Table 3 contains the data from Leo’s study, and is adapted from Leo; see
note 110, 280.
312
Leo, p. 280.
313
Id.
314
Gudjonsson, see note 110, p. 141.
310

167

has not been found in all studies, there is some evidence that younger suspects
are more likely to confess than older suspects.315 A 1970 U.S. study found that
42.9% of suspects under the age of 25 in Colorado made confessions under police
interrogation compared with 18.2% of older suspects.316 A 1980 British study
found that 53% of suspects over 21 years of age made confessions, compared
to 68% of those below the age of 21.317 Studies in 1989318 and 1998319 found a
difference of 10.8% and 8%, respectively, between confession rates of juveniles
and adults. Gudjonsson draws two interpretations from these findings: 1) the
younger the suspect, the easier it is to obtain a confession from him or her, and 2)
there appears to be no clear cut-off point with regard to age, i.e., suspects do not
seem to reach a ceiling of resistance after a certain age.320
The literature reveals several factors that could be responsible for this
phenomenon. First, it might be that, due to greater life experience, older suspects
are better equipped psychologically to cope with the demand characteristics of
the interrogative situation.321 Another possible explanation is that older suspects
are more likely to understand and assert their legal rights during interrogation.322
Finally, Gudjonsson suggests that temperamental differences related to age may
also be important.323 For example, factors such as neuroticism and impulsiveness,
which may make some suspects confess more readily than others, are negatively
correlated with age.324 Another potential factor is that adolescents find negative
feedback and interrogative pressure from interrogators more difficult to resist
than adults.325
However, the literature does not universally demonstrate this correlation
between age and willingness to confess. In a study of 248 criminal defendants in
Prairie City, California, Neubauer found no significant difference in confession
rates between minors (16–20 years old) and adults (21 years and older).326
Similarly, Leo did not find age to be “significantly related to the likelihood of
obtaining incriminating information from the suspect.”327
315

Id.
L.S. Leiken, “Police Interrogation in Colorado: The Implementation of Miranda,” 47 Denver
Law Journal 1 (1970), 19-20.
317
P. Softley, Police Interrogation. An Observational Study in Four Police Stations, Home Office
Research Study no. 61(London: HMSO, 1980).
318
R. Leng et al., Discretion to Charge and Prosecute, Report to the Economic and Social Research
Council (UK: 1989).
319
C. Phillips and D. Brown, Entry into the Criminal Justice System: A Survey of Police Arrests
and their Outcomes, Home Office Research Study no. 185 (London: HMSO, 1998).
320
Gudjonsson, see note 110, p. 142.
321
Leiken, see note 319, p. 19-21.
322
J. Baldwin and M. McConville, Confessions in Crown Court Trials, Royal Commission on
Criminal Procedure Research Study No. 5 (London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office (HMSO), 1980),
p. 195.
323
Gudjonsson, see note 110, p. 142
324
Id.
325
Id.
326
W. Neubauer, “Confessions in Prairie City: Some Causes and Effects,” Journal of Criminal
Law and Criminology 65 (1974), 104..
327
Leo, see note 110, p. 291.
316

168

2. Gender: Gudjonsson notes that approximately 85% of persons arrested
and detained at police stations in England are male.328 However, several British
researchers have found no gender differences with regard to the rate of admissions
and denials.329 Similarly, Leo found no significant relationship between gender
and likelihood of confession or self-incrimination.330 On the other hand, another
researcher found a significant gender difference, with females confessing more
commonly than males (73% admission rate of females versus 52% of males).331
3. Ethnic Differences: Phillips and Brown found that admission rates for
whites, blacks and Asians were 58, 48 and 44% respectively.332 Interestingly, the
study also reflected that black and Asian detainees were significantly more likely
than whites to request legal advice. Even when the analysis accounted for this
variable, a significant difference remained between the confession rates of black
and white detainees. However, Leo found no significant relationship between race
and likelihood of confession.333
4. Mental State and Psychological Factors: Although the data is sparse,
Gudjonsson has concluded that the only psychological/mental state factor that
predicts a confession is when suspects admitted to having consumed an illicit
drug 24 hours prior to their arrest.334
5. Previous Convictions and Confessions: Gudjonsson notes that suspects who
have had several previous convictions are expected to be (a) more likely to know
and assert their legal rights; (b) more familiar with the probable consequences of
making self-incriminating admissions and confessions; and (c) more familiar with
the police environment and interrogations.335 Consistent with these expectations,
Leo found that suspects with a previous felony record were four times more likely
to invoke their Miranda rights than suspects without previous convictions.336
Invocation of Mirada rights, in turn, implies the termination of interrogation.
Consistently, Neubauer found that suspects with previous convictions were less
likely to confess to the alleged offense than first offenders.337 However, other
studies have found no significant relationship between previous convictions and
the rate of confessions.338

328

Gudjonsson, see note 110, p. 143.
See Moston, note 195; also see J. Pearse et al., “Police Interviewing and Psychological
Vulnerabilities: Predicting the Likelihood of a Confession,” Journal of Community and Applied
Social Psychology 8, no. 1 (1998).
330
Leo, see note 110, p. 291.
331
Phillips and Brown, see note 322, p. 105.
332
Id.
333
Leo, see note 110, p. 291.
334
Gudjonsson, see note 110, p. 144.
335
Id.
336
Leo, see note 110, p. 286.
337
Neubauer, see note 326, p. 103.
338
See Leiken, note 316; Phillips and Brown, note 319; M. Zander, “The Investigation of Crime:
A Study of Cases Tried at the Old Bailey,” Criminal Law Review (1979), 203-219.
329

169

Characteristics of the Offense
As explained previously, the more serious the offense, the greater the stakes in
terms of perceived and real punishment, which most likely inhibits some suspects
from confessing.339 Thus, it might be theorized that the type and seriousness of
the offense, as detailed below, of which a particular suspect is accused might
influence his or her willingness to confess.
1. Type of Offense: Neubauer found that suspects interrogated about
property offenses confessed more often (56%) than suspects of violent offenses
(32%).340 Mitchell found consistently that suspects confessed more readily to
property offenses (76%) than to violent offenses (64%). Neubauer argues that
the main reason for the greater number of confessions among alleged property
offenders relates to the nature of the evidence that the police have at the time of
interrogation.341 In property offenses there is more often forensic evidence linking
the suspect with the offense, which gives interrogators more persuasive evidence
to convince suspects that denials are futile.342 However, Moston, Stephenson and
Williamson found no significant differences in confession rates between offense
types.343 Leo’s findings also “do not support [Neubauer’s] argument that there
is a significant relationship between the type of crime and the likelihood of
confession.”344
2. Seriousness of the Offense: A number of studies have shown that suspects
confess less readily to serious than to non-serious offenses.345 Gudjonsson points
out that the relative lack of incentive among suspects to confess to serious crimes
may sometimes be compensated for by the fact that the more serious the crime, the
longer suspects tend to be interrogated and the larger the number of interrogative
tactics utilized.346
Contextual Characteristics
1. Access to Legal Advice: Gudjonsson notes that despite evidence that
receiving legal advice influences the confession rate, access to an attorney does
not appear to reduce the overall confession rate.347 In other words, even with a
high proportion of suspects being provided legal advice, suspects still confess in
more than half of all cases. However, the presence of legal counsel is an important
predictor as to whether or not a particular suspect will confess.348 For example,
Moston, Stephenson and Williamson (1992) found that over 50% of those who
received no legal advice confessed, in contrast to less than 30% of those who had
339

Gudjonsson, see note 110 p. 146.
Neubauer, see note 326, p. 104.
341
Id., p. 106
342
Id.
343
Moston, see note 195.
344
Leo, see note 110, p. 292.
345
See R. Evans, The Conduct of Police Interviews with Juveniles, Royal Commission on
Criminal Justice Research Report no. 8 (London: HMSO 1993).
346
Gudjonsson, see note 110, p. 147-148.
347
Id., p. 150.
348
Id.
340

170

legal advice.349 Though not directly related to the access to, or presence of, legal
counsel during an interrogation, Leo’s findings regarding suspects’ likelihood
of invoking their Miranda rights are illuminating, because this action usually
leads to access to an attorney and the automatic termination of interrogation.
Even though invoking Miranda is a potentially powerful tool for suspects to
avoid interrogation and, thus, confession or self-incrimination, Leo found that
78.29% of his sample chose to waive their Miranda rights, while 21.71% chose
to terminate questioning.350
2. Strength of the Evidence: The Moston, Stephenson and Williamson study
provides the strongest support for the theory that the strength of the evidence against
a suspect is the best predictor of the likelihood of a confession.351 Confessions
were rare (less than 10% of cases) and denials common (77% of cases) when the
evidence against the suspect was weak.352 On the other hand, when the evidence
was strong confessions were common (67% of cases) and denials infrequent
(16% of cases).353 However, Leo’s findings do not corroborate the theory that the
strength of the evidence prior to questioning “exert[s] a statistically significant
effect on the likelihood that the suspect will provide incriminating information
during interrogation.”354
3. Interrogation Techniques: Evidence shows that the more serious the offense,
the more police use persuasive techniques to break down resistance.355 In his
study of 156 videotaped interrogations, Gudjonsson found open-ended questions
in 98% of the interviews, and leading questions in 73% of the sample.356 The most
common techniques of persuasion were the introduction of allegations against the
suspect, seen in 74% of the cases, and challenges to a lie or an inconsistency, seen
in 20% of the interviews.357 Other types of challenges, emphasis on the seriousness
of the offense, and psychological manipulation were individually noted in less
than 8% of the cases.358 Ultimately, 53% of the suspects in Gudjonsson’s study
made a full confession or a self-incriminating admission (i.e., an admission of
involvement in the offense, but minimizing intent or role).359 In 97% of cases the
confession or admission occurred in the first interview.360

349

Moston, see note 195.
Leo, see note 110, p. 276.
351
Gudjonsson, see note 110, p. 150. See also M.L. Wald et al., “Interrogations in New Haven:
The impact of Miranda,” Yale Law Journal 76, no. 1519 (1967) (finding that suspects were
significantly more likely to provide incriminating information during interrogation the stronger the
evidence against them prior to questioning).
352
Moston, see note 195.
353
Id.
354
Leo, see note 110, p. 292.
355
See Evans, note 345; B. Irving and I.K. McKenzie Police Interrogation: The Effects of the
Police and Criminal Evidence Act (London: The Police Foundation, 1989).
356
Gudjonsson, see note 110, p. 69.
357
Id.
358
Id.
359
Id., p. 70.
360
Id.
350

171

According to Leo, the number of interrogation tactics employed by
interrogators in a U.S. police station was one of the only two variables that were
significantly related to the likelihood of a successful interrogation.361 In Leo’s
study, interrogators employed a median of 5 and a mean of 5.62 tactics per
interrogation, yet used some tactics more than others.362 The twelve tactics most
commonly used by interrogators were the following (with the percentage of cases
where the tactic was used in parentheses):363
•

Appeal to suspect’s self-interest (88%).

•

Confront suspect with existing evidence of guilt (85%).

•

Undermine suspect’s confidence in denial of guilt (43%).

•

Identify contradictions in suspect’s story (42%).

•

Use Behavioral Analysis Interview questions (40%).

•

Appeal to the importance of cooperation (37%).

•

Offer moral justification/psychological excuses (34%).

•

Confront suspect with false evidence of guilt (30%).

•

Use praise or flattery (30%).

•

Appeal to the detective’s expertise/authority (29%).

•

Appeal to the suspect’s conscience (23%).

•

Minimize the moral seriousness of the offense (22%).

Leo’s findings reveal that, of these tactics, the four most effective in
eliciting a confession, admission, or incriminating statement were (a) appealing
to the suspect’s conscience (97% success rate), (b) identifying and pointing out
contradictions in the suspect’s denial and story (91% success rate), (c) using
praise or flattery (91% success rate), and (d) offering moral justifications or
psychological excuses for the crime (90% success rate).364
4. Length of Interrogation: As noted above, Leo found that the length of the
interrogation, along with the number of interrogation techniques used, was the
only statistically significant indicator of the likelihood of obtaining incriminating
information through a confession.365 Leo’s findings reflect that the longer
interrogators interrogate suspects “the more likely they are to wear the suspect
down and elicit incriminating statements.”366 Successful interrogations were six
times more likely to last more than one hour than unsuccessful ones (36% vs. 6%),

361
362
363
364
365
366

Leo, see note 110, p. 292. The other variable was length of the interrogation, discussed below.
Id., p. 277.
Id., p. 278.
Id., p. 294.
Id., p. 292.
Id.

172

while unsuccessful interrogations were more than twice as likely to be under 30
minutes than successful ones (58% vs. 27%).367
By contrast, Gudjonsson has concluded that only three variables seem to
predict a confession: use of illicit drugs, prison experience, and presence of an
attorney/solicitor.368 Illicit drug use prior to the interrogation predicted the suspects’
making a confession, while the other two variables were associated with suspects
making a denial.369 Gudjonsson found that the odds of a suspect’s confessing were
more than three times greater if that suspect had reported using an illicit drug
within 24 hours of his or her arrest.370 On the other hand, Gudjonsson also found
that the odds of suspects’ not confessing were four times higher for a suspect who
had a legal representative.371 With regard to prior prison experience, the likelihood
of a denial was twice as great in cases where the suspect had already been to
prison.372 According to Gudjonsson’s study, the greatest likelihood of suspects’
making a confession occurred when there was no solicitor present and the suspect
had consumed illicit drugs within 24 hours of arrest and had not been previously to
prison.373 The likelihood of a confession occurring under those circumstances was
92%, in contrast to the average confession rate of 58% for the entire sample.374
Gudjonsson’s Self-Report Studies
One distinct method for evaluating why suspects confess during custodial
interrogations is to systematically ask suspects questions about what made
them confess.375 Gudjonsson has twice administered such questionnaires, once
in Northern Ireland and another in Iceland.376 These studies revealed three
“facilitative” factors and one “inhibitory” factor for confessions.377 The first
facilitative factor, external pressure to confess, is associated with persuasive
police interrogation techniques, police behavior, and fear of confinement.378 Fear
of being confined was rated as a very important reason for the confession in over
20% of the cases,379 while fear of the police or threats of violence were rated as
important in only 5% of cases.380 Police pressure and persuasion were rated as
very important in about 20% of cases.381 The second facilitative factor, internal
pressure to confess, is associated with the suspect’s feelings of guilt about the
crime and the consequent need to relieve him/herself of the guilt by confessing.382
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382

Id., p. 297.
Gudjonsson,see note 110, p. 70.
Id.
Id. , p. 70-71.
Id., p. 71.
Id.
Id.
Id.
Id., p. 140.
Id., p. 152.
Id.
Id., p. 153.
Id.
Id.
Id.
Id.

173

Over 42% of subjects interviewed said they had experienced considerable relief
after confessing and 40% said they had confessed because they felt guilty.383 In
relation to the third facilitative factor, perception of proof, 55% of subjects said
that they had confessed because they strongly believed at the time that the police
would be able to prove they had committed the crime.384 Gudjonsson identified
fear of the consequences of confessing as an inhibitory factor.385 Of the three
facilitative factors, Gudjonsson concluded that the single greatest incentive to
confess related to the strength of the evidence against the suspect.386

Section 3. Interrogation Techniques in the Literature
Turning from the theoretical and empirical literature to the practical, there are
numerous guides available to the public concerning interrogation techniques. The
majority of interrogation manuals, or “how-to” texts, are produced in the United
States and are generally based on the practical experience of interrogators.387 The
most influential of these practical interrogation manuals is Criminal Interrogation
and Confessions, written by Inbau, Reid, Buckley, and Jayne.388 It is also perhaps
the most comprehensive, unified approach to interrogation, laying out an overall
schema for the entire interaction with the suspect. Inbau et al. take over 600 pages
to describe the stages and requirements of a successful interrogation according to
the Reid Technique. The Reid Technique was originally developed in the 1940s
and 1950s by John E. Reid and the text has continually evolved since then, with
the fourth and most recent edition published in 2004.389 Other classic texts include
Royal and Schutt’s The Gentle Art of Interviewing and Interrogation, as well
as Aubry and Caputo’s Criminal Interrogation. A newer text that seems to be
garnering some attention is Stan Walters’s Kinesic Interview and Interrogation.
These, combined with a number of other, lesser known “how-to” guides, provide
a basic outline of successful interrogation. To some degree, almost all cover the
same aspects of the successful interrogation: 1) characteristics/qualifications
of the interrogator; 2) pre-interrogation fact gathering and analysis; 3) the
interrogation setting; 4) pre-interrogation interview and rapport-building; 5)
analysis of behavioral symptoms; 6) interrogation of the suspect; 7) detection of
deceit; and 8) securing the confession.
While some criticize the Reid Technique and most of the other available
interrogation guides as relying too heavily on overly coercive persuasion
methods,390 those critics also acknowledge that some persuasion pressure is
necessary, since most suspects are reluctant to admit their crimes or often even

383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390

Id.
Id.
Id., p. 152.
Id., p. 157.
Id., p. 7.
Id.
Inbau, see note 109, p. ix.
Gudjonsson, see note 110, p. 7.

174

discuss them.391 Moreover, one can hardly imagine a custodial interrogation that
is not in some way “coercive,” as the interrogator “is part of a system that gives
him or her certain powers and controls (arrest and detention, power to charge,
power to ask questions, control over the suspect’s freedom of movement and
access to the outside world).”392
Interrogators generally use persuasive methods to convince suspects that
“their best interests are served by a confession.”393 Some of the available manuals
recommend strategies of deception, including concealment of police identity
while trying to obtain a confession or admission, misrepresentation of the nature
or seriousness of the offense during interrogation, and even trickery, such as
presenting the suspect with false evidence of guilt.394 Gudjonsson argues, however,
that “the risk of false confessions is very real when psychologically manipulative
and deceptive techniques are employed.”395 Thus, interrogators must be aware of
these dangers. They should also recognize the three general classes of stressors
that are relevant to police interrogations, so that they can both understand what a
suspect is experiencing and manipulate the stressors as needed:
•

Stress caused by the physical environment at the police station;

•

Stress caused by confinement and isolation from peers; and

•

Stress caused by the suspect’s submission to authority.396

The following subsections summarize the various suggestions for
interrogation techniques provided by the classic texts for each of the eight aspects
mentioned above. The selected sources view interrogation as a method to both
secure confessions and gather accurate information in a legal and ethical fashion.
However, any such summary can only scratch the surface of “how-to” guides that
contain hundreds of pages each. Nonetheless, we attempt to draw together those
areas on which the authorities basically agree, as well as to point out some of the
most salient suggestions made by each author in the various areas. We base the
discussion on the Reid Technique, as it is the most widely used and accepted, and
in many instances seems to be the basis for the other techniques as well.397
Characteristics/Qualifications of the Interrogator
All authorities agree that not just anyone can be a successful interrogator. It
takes an intense dedication to the art of interrogation, years of practice and study,
and certain personality characteristics, only some of which can be learned.

391

Id., p. 8.
Id., p. 25.
393
Id., p. 8.
394
Id.
395
Id., p. 9.
396
Id.,p. 26.
397
Most of the discussion will refer to the interrogator and subject/suspect as “he.” This is done to
accommodate the texts which almost uniformly use “he,” and of course is not meant to imply in any
way that either party must be male.
392

175

According to the Reid Technique, the interrogator must be intelligent, with a
“good practical understanding of human nature.”398 He should “get along well with
others, especially individuals from varying backgrounds.”399 Patience and a “high
index of suspicion” are both important attributes, as is “an intense interest” in the
field of interrogation.400 An interrogator should supplement this intense interest
with continual study of “behavior analysis, related areas of psychology and
psychopathology, as well as interrogation techniques. He should understand how
to conduct a proper interrogation and be able to explain…the underlying concepts
involved at each stage of the interrogation process.”401 An awareness of the legal
regulations surrounding interrogation is also indispensable.402 Because one
individual will perform the roles of both interrogator and interviewer, the authors
suggest that the interrogator needs all of the characteristics of a good interviewer:
a friendly, personable, nonjudgmental, and objective manner; a genuine curiosity
and concern about other people; the ability to separate the suspect from the crime;
comfort in asking questions; an “easygoing confidence;” and the ability to be a
good listener.403 Beyond this, the interrogator should also have “the ability to put
aside any personal feelings” about the suspect, the ability to control his emotions
in all situations, comfort with “using persuasive tactics that may be considered
morally offensive,” and the ability to project confidence in both himself and the
path of the investigation and interrogation.404 Finally, the Reid Technique requires
that the interrogator be a “skilled communicator,” with the “ability to monitor a
subject’s behavior and respond effectively to the dynamics of the situation.”405
The other texts hew closely to the Reid requirements. Aubry and Caputo; Aubry,
Royal and Schutt, and Walters echo and flesh out some of the Reid requirements.
For instance, they suggest that the interrogator “must be possessed with a strong
desire to become a skilled and competent interrogator[,] and this desire must be
channeled into efforts which will culminate in capability.”406 He must be confident
and comfortable in his own skin;407 “a hesitant manner, fidgeting around in the
chair, stuttering and stammering, the use of profanity or vulgarity, and similar
mannerisms would all be considered objectionable.”408 He must be personable and
able to relate to and get along well with others from all backgrounds.409 He should be
intelligent and well-educated, and have an interest in and understanding of human
nature.410 Indeed, Walters writes that the best interrogators are those “who have

398

Inbau, see note 109, p. 65.
Id., p. 66-67
400
Id. p. 66
401
Id., p. 66.
402
Id., p. 66.
403
Id., p. 66-67, 79.
404
Id., p. 78-79.
405
Id., p. 79.
406
Arthur S. Aubry, Jr. and Rudolph R. Caputo, Criminal Interrogation, 40 (1965).
407
Id., p. 40-57, 150; Robert F. Royal, Steven R. Schutt, The Gentle Art of Interviewing and
Interrogation: A Professional Manual and Guide (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1976), 65-66.
408
Aubry and Caputo, see note 406, p. 57.
409
Royal and Schutt, see note 407, p. 65-67.
410
Aubry and Caputo, see note 406, p. 41; Royal and Schutt, see note 407, p. 67.
399

176

learned to observe and interpret human communication behavior, are introspective
enough to know themselves, [and] have developed a broad-based understanding
of other personalities.”411 Ideal experience, according to Aubry, includes years of
field investigation, an “apprenticeship” as an interrogator with continual training
and review, as well as studies in psychology, physiology, criminology, sociology,
and basic physical sciences, literature, and English composition courses.412 Aubry,
however, concedes that a more realistic expectation is a high school diploma
and at least five years of police experience, with at least two of those “spent in
bona fide investigative duties of criminal violations, preferably as a Detective or
Plainclothesman.”413
Finally, the other texts point out that excellent acting ability is also a
requirement.414 The interrogator must convey numerous emotions “without
affecting his judgment or revealing any personal emotion about the subject…[and
must] project sincerity” to conduct an interrogation successfully.415 He should
“have developed the skill to play ‘the game’ in the interview room and temporarily
assume any other personality.”416 The interrogator must not only be patient,417 but
also be capable of conveying infinite patience so that the suspect believes the
interrogation will go on indefinitely.418
Pre-Interrogation Fact-Gathering and Analysis
All of the authorities agree that a thorough investigation and analysis
of the facts is essential to a successful interrogation. “An interrogation must
be considered as the highlight and the final act of the investigation which has
preceded it.”419 The Reid Technique’s “fact analysis” provides a good example of
the type and extent of investigation and fact-gathering that is required before an
interrogation. According to the Reid Technique, when possible, the interrogator
should conduct as much of the investigation as possible for himself and should
not merely read the reports of others.420 This is not a minor or easy task, as the
Reid Technique (and many of the other texts) requires that the interrogator have
information on:
•

411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420

The offense itself (including the legal nature of the offensive conduct
and the exact amount and nature of the loss; date, time, and place of
the occurrence in accurate detail; description of the crime area and of
the crime scene itself; the way in which the crime appears to have been
committed and known details of its commission; possible motives for its
commission; incriminating factors regarding a particular suspect);
Stan B. Walters, Principles of Kinesic Interview and Interrogation (UK: CRC Press, 1996), xi.
Aubry and Caputo, see note 406, p. 51.
Id. p. 51.
Id., p. 44; Royal and Schutt, see note 407, p. 65-66.
Id.
Walters, see note 411, p. xi.
Inbau, see note 109, p. 66.
Aubry and Caputo, see note 406, p. 60.
Id., p. 148.
Inbau, see note 109, p. 12.

177

•

The suspect or suspects (including personal background information;
present physical and mental condition, as well as medical history,
including any addictions to drugs, alcohol, or gambling; attitude toward
investigation (such as hostile or cooperative); relationship to victim
or crime scene; incriminating facts or possible motives; alibi or other
statements that the suspect related to investigators; religious or fraternal
affiliations or prejudices; home environment; social attitudes in general;
hobbies; sexual interests or deviations, but only if directly relevant to the
investigation; abilities or opportunities to commit the offense); and

•

The victim or victims (including, for companies or other institutions,
attitudes and practices toward employees and public; financial status;
and for persons, nature of injury or harm and details thereof; age, sex,
marital status, and family responsibilities; social attitudes regarding
race, nationality, religion, etc.; gang affiliation; financial and social
circumstances; physical and mental characteristics; sexual interests or
deviations, but only if directly relevant to the investigation; blackmail
potentialities).421

The investigative techniques that should be employed in gathering this
information are beyond the purview of this paper, but it should be sufficient to
note that gathering all of this information is no small task. In addition, all of the
authors repeatedly stress the importance of this stage to ensure proper preparation
for a successful interrogation.
The Interrogation Setting
Each of the authorities focuses on the physical set-up and contextconstruction for the interrogation. The Reid Technique suggests that “the principal
psychological factor contributing to a successful interview or interrogation is
privacy — being alone with the person during questioning.”422 This is based on
the psychological premise that we, as humans, are more comfortable revealing
secrets to only one person at a time.423 Second only to privacy, according to the
Reid Technique, is the need to minimize reminders of consequences by removing
police paraphernalia from both the room and the interrogator’s person.424 Beyond
this, the Reid Technique provides suggestions on, among other things, selecting
proper décor (“remove all distractions”), lighting (“good, but not excessive or
glaring, illumination of the suspect’s face”), noise level (as low as possible),
and even arrangement of chairs (“investigator and subject should be separated
by about four to five feet and should directly face each other, without . . . any
other object between them”).425 All of these are meant to create an environment
that the authors suggest will be conducive to eliciting responsiveness from the

421
422
423
424
425

Id., p. 20-21.
Id., p. 51.
Id.
Id., p. 56.
Id., p. 58-59.

178

suspect.426 In addition, the authors recommend the use of a one-way mirror and a
concealed microphone so that observers can see and hear the interrogation while
maintaining the necessary privacy.427 This allows fellow investigators to prepare
themselves for later involvement by observing the suspect’s behavior, protects
the interrogator from false accusations of misconduct, and allows observation of
the suspect when he is left alone in the room, both to evaluate his behavior and to
prevent self-inflicted violence.428
Establishing a sense of privacy through the set-up of the interrogation room is
the first recommendation of almost all authors.429 “The removal of formal, police
atmosphere, when combined with the illusion of remoteness, with quietness and
the lack of sound and noise, and with privacy; can have a sudden, devastating
effect upon the composure of the individual who has just come from the normal
hustle and bustle of Headquarters.”430 Moreover, most authors agree on the
psychological premise that it is easier to confide in or confess a secret to one
other person.431
Aubry goes on to write that there must be a reception room adjoining the
interrogation room where observers can be situated, and the only communication
system between the two rooms should be a two-way buzzer, with the buzzerbutton in the interrogation room out of the suspect’s view.432 “A state of quietness
with an absolute minimum of sound also serves a useful purpose in helping to
withdraw the suspect from his environment.”433 Like the Reid Technique, others
also suggest the removal of all formal restraining agents and evidence that the
suspect is in police custody, such as uniforms or shields.434 In addition, Aubry
suggests that the physical surroundings be “plain and simple,” painted in a
neutral shade of off-white, and with no windows that might “serve as a constant
distraction and as a convenient psychological crutch upon which the suspect will
lean to his own advantage.”435 Unlike the Reid Technique, Aubry recommends
against the one-way mirror because it cannot be easily explained,436 but suggests
using a small picture on the wall to conceal the mirror.437 In addition, he suggests
using a sound and video recording mechanism, so long as it can be done without
alerting or distracting the suspect.438

426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438

Id., p. 51.
Id., p. 59.
Id.
See, e.g., Aubry and Caputo, note 406, p. 66.
Id.
Inbau, see note 109, p. 51; Aubry and Caputo, see note 406, p. 65.
Aubry and Caputo, see note 406, p. 63-65.
Id., p. 65.
Id., p. 66.
Id., p. 66, 67.
Id., p. 67.
Id., p. 68.
Id., p. 71-72.

179

Pre-Interrogation Interview and Rapport-Building
The Reid Technique recommends conducting an interview before beginning
the interrogation to “establish a level of rapport and trust with the suspect,” as
well as to learn information about the suspect that will help in the conduct of
the interrogation.439 The interview, which should last 30 to 45 minutes and is
conducted with “only one investigator interacting with the subject,”440 should
be non-accusatory and designed to gather information, may be conducted early
during an investigation and in a variety of environments, is free flowing and
relatively unstructured, and should be documented in written notes taken by the
investigator.441 Like the preparatory investigation, the interview is designed to
elicit information about the offense itself, the suspect or suspects, and the victim or
victims.442 More important, however, is building rapport, defined as “a relationship
marked by conformity.”443 The goals of building rapport at the beginning of the
interview are: 1) give the suspect an opportunity to evaluate the investigator
and ideally “conclude that the investigator is professional, nonjudgmental, and
knowledgeable;” 2) allow the investigator to make an initial assessment of the
suspect, such as his “communications skills, general nervous tension, normal
level of eye contact, and a behavioral baseline;” and 3) allow the investigator
to establish a “question-and-answer pattern” for the interaction.444 At the same
time, “efforts to establish rapport should appear natural and unassuming” so the
suspect does not become “suspicious of the investigator’s motives.”445 Small talk
works for some suspects, while simply establishing the suspect’s background
information and personal history may be enough for others.446
All authorities agree on the importance of this initial interview, with its dual
purpose of gathering information and building rapport. Indeed, according to
Aubry, “nearly all interrogations which eventually fail for whatever given reason,
have actually failed during the first few moments of the questioning procedure.”447
Royal and Schutt write that “resistance to the disclosure of [such] information is
considerably increased if the interviewer is a total stranger, or if something is not
done to establish a friendly and trusting attitude on the part of the suspect.”448 To
build that rapport, they suggest the following techniques:
1.

Identify yourself.

2.

Begin the discussion by commenting on a topic of apparent
interest to the subject.

439

Inbau, see note 109, p. 9.
John E. Reid and Associates, Defending the Reid Technique of Interrogation, at http://www.reid.
com/educational_info/critictechniquedefend.html, accessed 13 March 2005.
441
Inbau, see note 109, p. 5-6.
442
Id., p. 20-21.
443
Id., p. 93.
444
Id.
445
Id.
446
Id., p. 93-94.
447
Aubry and Caputo, see note 406, p. 148.
448
Royal and Schutt, see note 407, p. 61.
440

180

3.

Establish confidence and friendliness by talking for a period
about everyday subjects. In other words, have a ‘friendly visit.’

4.

Keep conversation informal and easy.

5.

Display pleasant emotional responses and avoid unpleasant
expressions.

6.

Urge the subject, but never try to hurry him.

7.

Do not ask questions that lead a witness or subject to believe
you are suspicious of him, either by composition of the question
or by method of asking.

8.

Appear interested and sympathetic to his problems.

9.

Do not begin the interview or interrogation until the subject
appears to be quite friendly and cooperative.

10. Try to re-establish rapport at any time during the questioning if
the subject appears to become reserved or hostile.”449
Also important in building rapport is conveying the desired image of the
interviewer to the suspect. The interviewer must appear sympathetic, sincere,
impartial, empathetic, and firm, all at the same time.450
Aubry emphasizes the importance of even the investigator’s entrance, writing
that “he must [enter] with an intangible air which adds up to confidence, confidence
in himself, and confidence in his ability to carry out a successful interrogation; he
must exude this air of confidence.”451 To build rapport while maintaining this air
of confidence, Aubry suggests the following techniques to be used at the initial
phase of the interview/interrogation:

449
450
451

1.

Have the suspect identify himself.

2.

Use only the suspect’s first or last name, and never use “Mr.”

3.

The interrogator should insist that the suspect call him “Mr.”
as this “aids the interrogator in securing and maintaining the
psychological advantage over the subject.”

4.

The interrogator should approach the suspect with “an air of
resolution and firmness” but not “be so forbidding that the
subject quickly makes up his mind that the interrogator is ‘out
to get him at all costs.’”

5.

The investigator must quickly size up the suspect, “rapidly and
efficiently analyzing the personality, temperament, and makeup of the subject.”

Id., p. 61-62.
Id., p. 65-66.
Aubry and Caputo, see note 406, p. 150.

181

6.

Using the “size-up,” the investigator should then determine the
approach that will be most useful for this type of suspect.452

Similarly, Vrij suggests that during the interview, the investigator must “avoid
guilt assumption and belief perseverance,” must be open-minded and flexible,
should establish rapport, and should provide little information about the case to
avoid making it easier for the suspect to lie or come up with explanations.453
Types of Questions for the Interview
As a complement to the various interview techniques, it is helpful to consider
the types of questions that an investigator should ask. Most of the authorities
agree on this aspect, which is laid out most clearly by Dillon in his work on The
Practice of Questioning. He classifies several types of questions used during the
various stages of the interrogation. According to him, the questions should be
prepared beforehand and written down on paper (though no other author makes
this suggestion, as it would seem to inhibit flexibility).454 The questions, according
to Dillon, should be asked in the following order, by type:
1.

Opening questions – used at the start of the interview and
designed to “get the respondent talking,” these should be yes-no
questions that are easy to answer and are not about the crime;

2.

Free narrative questions – the investigator names a topic
and asks the suspect to tell what he knows about it, allowing
the suspect to describe a topic in his own words while the
investigator listens without interrupting;

3.

Direct questions – follows up on narrative questions by asking
about specific items while avoiding value-laden terms such as
“murder,” “rape,” etc. The investigator should order his questions
A) from the general to the specific, and B) from the known to
the unknown;

4.

Cross-questioning – questions designed to check and verify
one answer against another, delving into problematic (i.e.,
contradictory or ambiguous) answers; the suspect is asked to
repeat his statements “by means of questions asked in different
ways and in no special order;”

5.

Review questions – used to confirm previous answers, repeating
the information and asking ‘Is that correct?’ and ‘What else?’455

452

Id., p. 151-162.
Aldert Vrij, ‘“We Will Protect Your Wife and Child, but Only If You Confess’: Police
Interrogations in England and the Netherlands,” in Adversarial Versus Inquisitorial Justice:
Psychological Perspectives on Criminal Systems, Peter J. van Koppen and Steven D. Penrod, eds.
(New York: Plenum, 2003), 57-79.
454
J. T. Dillon, The Practice of Questioning (London: Routledge, 1990), 82.
455
Id. p. 85-91.
453

182

At the closing, Dillon suggests again simply listening to the suspect.456 “Their
small talk often includes a casual fact or unguarded statement that contains new
or different information,” because they feel that the questioning is over and their
guard may be down.457
Reviewing Dillon’s five forms of questions, Walton warns the interrogator
“to be aware of value-laden terms that occur in questions.”458 While he approves of
the use of so-called loaded questions (“a question that contains presuppositions
such that when the respondent gives any direct answer to the question he concedes
certain assumptions that are at issue and that are damaging to his interests”), the
interrogator must recognize when he is using these types of questions so that if
the suggestive terms in the question are “incorporated into the memory of the
witness” the interrogator understands what is happening.459 At the same time, the
loaded question is a key component of the Reid Technique’s Step 7 (“Presenting
an alternative question,” see discussion below), thus showing the utility of such
questions in the interrogation setting. Indeed, Walton recognizes that loaded,
complex questions should be used “provided that they come in the right order of
questioning in a dialogue sequence.”460
Royal and Schutt echo this advice in their thoughts on the fundamental
characteristics of good question construction:
1.

Make the questions short and confined to one topic;

2.

Make the questions clear and easily understood;

3.

Avoid the use of frightening or super-realistic words; such as
confession, murder, forger, dope addict, embezzler, etc. Use
milder terms;

4.

Use precise questions. A precise question is one that calls for a
specific or an exact answer. It limits the requested answer to a
definite item of information;

5.

Use discerning questions. Discerning questions are questions
designed to produce information directly bearing on the matter
under discussion. They are questions that discriminate between
what is relevant and what is irrelevant.461

Behavior Symptom Analysis
Behavior Symptom Analysis (BSA) involves evaluation of the verbal,
paralinguistic, and nonverbal channels of communication to identify possibly
guilty and/or deceptive suspects.462 BSA can be considered merely a part of the
456
457
458
459
460
461
462

Id., p. 90.
Id.
Walton, see note 199, p. 1791.
Id.
Id.
Royal and Schutt, see note 407, p. 32-33.
Inbau, see note 109, p. 125.

183

pre-interrogation interview and not its own, separate stage. However, because
the FBI places such emphasis on the use of BSA-like techniques (see discussion
below), it is worth briefly discussing the Reid approach.
In essence, BSA evaluates a suspect’s answers to interview questions not for
their substance but for the manner in which the answers are given. Part of the
purpose of BSA is to determine whether to move from the interview stage to the
interrogation stage. The Reid Technique offers several basic principles designed
to enable the investigator to conduct effective BSA:
1.

Recognize that there are no unique behaviors associated
with truthfulness or deception.

2.

Evaluate all three channels of communication
simultaneously.

3.

Evaluate paralinguistic and nonverbal behaviors in the
context of the subject’s verbal message.

4.

Evaluate the preponderance of behaviors occurring
throughout the interview.

5.

Establish the subject’s normal behavioral patterns.463

These basic principles are then combined with the following generalizations
about the correlation between truthfulness/deceptiveness and a suspect’s attitudes
when answering questions:

463
464

Truthful Suspect

Deceptive Suspect

Spontaneous

Guarded

Sincere (“openly expresses
appropriate emotional states”)

Insincere (“may come across
as phony”)

Helpful (“will openly discuss
possible suspects and motives
and may speculate on how
the crime may have
been committed”)

Unhelpful (“reluctant to talk about
possible suspects or people who
could be eliminated from suspicion
…may offer explanations…[or]
take the position that no
crime was committed”)

Concerned (displays “a serious
manner and pays close attention
to the interviewer’s questions”)

Unconcerned (“nonchalant and
downplay[s] the significance of
being a suspect...may engage
in levity or answer questions
inappropriately”)

Cooperative

Uncooperative464

Id., p. 125-127.
Id., p. 128-130.

184

The Reid Technique text then reviews various behavior symptoms that may
be indicators of truthfulness and deception in each of the three communication
channels.465 While it would be duplicative to recite them all here, it is worth
noting that they come with a warning to the investigator. The authors note that it is
“exceedingly important — indeed critical — that a suspect’s behavior symptoms
are assessed in accordance with the following guidelines:
•

Look for deviation from the suspect’s normal behavior…Once normative
behavior has been established, subsequent changes that occur when the
suspect is questioned about the crime will become significant.

•

Evaluate all behavioral indications on the basis of when they occur
(timing) and how often they occur (consistency).

•

To be reliable indicators of truth or deception, behavioral changes should
occur immediately in response to questions or simultaneously with the
suspect’s answers. Furthermore, similar behavior responses should occur
on a consistent basis whenever the same subject matter is discussed.”466

BSA is unique in several respects, the most important being its emphasis
on using the baseline approach to behavior evaluation. Also unique is the Reid
Technique’s emphasis on using BSA at a specific stage of the interrogation
process. Aspects of BSA correlate with overall detection of deception suggested
by other texts, but the Reid Technique uses a specific method at this stage of the
interrogation — indeed, before the interrogation has actually begun — to help
determine whether or not to move into the interrogation stage. The discussion
below elaborates on other authors’ general prescriptions for detecting deception
during an interrogation.
Kinesic Analysis
The only other interrogation system that uses a similar pre-interrogation
approach is the Kinesic Interrogation Technique. The process is called Practical
Kinesic Analysis Phase (PKAP) and involves similar analysis of behavior to detect
deception, discomfort, or unusual sensitivity.467 Indeed, PKAP and BSA are so
similar as to constitute basically the same technique. Like BSA, PKAP examines
behavior related to verbal quality, verbal content, and nonverbal behavior.468
During this phase the interrogator also develops a profile of the subject, which
allows him to use a tailored interrogation approach for that subject.469
The basic principles of Kinesic Analysis Phase are strikingly similar to
those of BSA:
1.

465
466
467
468
469

No single behavior, by itself, proves anything.

Id., p. 130-153.
Id., p. 153 (emphasis in original).
Walters, see note 411, p. 1-3.
See generally, Walters, note 411.
Id., p. 2.

185

2.

Behaviors must be relatively consistent when stimuli (such as a
particular area of inquiry) are presented.

3.

The interviewer must establish what is normal or baseline
behavior for each subject and then look for changes from the
normal baseline.
This is done by asking non-threatening questions and observing
the suspect’s unstressed behavior.

4.

These observed changes in the subject’s baseline behaviors are
diagnosed in clusters, not individually.

5.

Behaviors must be timely (i.e., they must occur within three to
five seconds of when the stress-provoking question is asked).

6.

The subjects are watching interrogators while interrogators are
watching them.

7.

Kinesic interviewing is not as reliable with some groups as with
the general population.470

The PKAP indicators of deception are also extremely similar to those listed
in the BSA, and cover a range of behavioral and verbal responses.471 As in the
Reid Technique, it is only after this analysis — PKAP — and a determination that
the suspect is either being deceptive or is responding to stimuli inappropriately
that the investigator moves into the interrogation stage.472
Interrogating the Suspect
“The interview and interrogation are distinctly different procedures, usually
separated by several minutes.”473 Once the investigator decides to shift from
interviewing to interrogation, the Reid Technique advises investigators to “sit
approximately four feet directly in front of the suspect” at the beginning; “remain
seated and refrain from pacing around the room;” “avoid creating the impression
that the investigator is seeking a confession or conviction;” “keep paper and pencil
out of sight during the interrogation;” “not use realistic words such as ‘murder,’
‘rape,’ ‘strangle,’ ‘stab,’ or ‘steal,’ except in certain situations;” “treat the suspect
with decency and respect, regardless of the nature of the offense;” “not handcuff or
shackle the suspect during the interrogation;” “not be armed;” and “recognize that
in everyone there is some good, however slight it might be.”474 These suggestions
are based on both practical necessities and psychological principles; for instance,
the authors recommend not being armed not only because the suspect might seize
the weapon in close quarters, but also because the interrogator should approach

470

Id., p. 8.
Id. , p. 18-138.
472
Id., p. 2.
473
John E. Reid and Associates, Defending the Reid Technique of Interrogation, at http://www.reid.
com/educational_info/critictechniquedefend.html, accessed 13 March 2005.
474
Inbau, see note 109, p. 79-84.
471

186

the suspect “man-to-man” rather than “police officer-to-prisoner” to create a more
conducive environment for the interrogation.475
The Reid Technique
The heart of the Reid Technique is a nine-step approach to interrogation. The
steps provide an over-arching schema that can be used to guide the interrogator
through the interrogation process. It gives the interrogator signposts and helps him
structure the interrogation in what the authors believe is an effective manner. The
Reid Technique authors emphasize that not all of the steps are appropriate in every
interrogation, and that the order in which the steps are presented is not dispositive
— the investigator should carefully observe the suspect’s responses and adjust his
questioning accordingly.476 Indeed, the authors suggest that different approaches
are needed for the “emotional offender” and the “nonemotional offender;” the first
requires tactics and techniques based on a sympathetic approach (“expressions
of understanding and compassion with regard to the commission of the offense
as well as the suspect’s present difficulty”), while the latter requires a “factual
analysis approach” (appeals to “common sense and reason”).477
The text provides both a brief and in-depth analysis of the nine steps. Here
we attempt to condense that information into an even briefer introduction to the
nine steps, with a recommendation to consult the text for a deeper understanding
of the Reid Technique.
Step 1 – Direct, Positive Confrontation
The interrogator confronts the suspect, asserting that he is “considered to be
the person who committed the offense.”478 The suspect’s verbal and nonverbal
response at this point will determine much of how the interrogation proceeds, but
in any event the interrogator also now offers a compelling reason for the suspect
to tell the truth.479
Step 2 – Theme Development
“The investigator expresses a supposition [called a theme] about the reason
for the crime’s commission, whereby the suspect should be offered a possible
moral excuse for having committed the offense.”480 The investigator should
“present to the suspect, in a monologue, reasons and excuses which morally (not
legally) excuse the suspect’s behavior…The themes do not plant new ideas in the
deceptive suspect’s mind, but allow the suspect to feel more comfortable talking
about his crime by allowing him to reduce the perceived consequences associated
with it — both real consequences (those affecting his freedom or livelihood)
and personal consequences (those affecting the suspect’s self-esteem).”481 This
475
476
477
478
479
480
481

Id., p. 83.
Id., p. 212.
Id., p. 210.
Id.
Id.
Id.
John E. Reid and Associates, see note 473.

187

includes creating a scenario whereby the suspect can blame either a third party,
such as the victim or an accomplice, or can justify the offense based on particular
circumstances.482 The discussion below of Aubry’s variations of interrogation
approaches lists several of the themes that an interrogator might consider
employing at this stage. Theme development is based on the argument that “in
order to persuade the suspect to tell the truth, it is essential to reinforce their [sic]
rationalizations for committing the crime versus focusing their attention on the
possible consequences.”483 However, “at no time should the suspect be told that
if he committed the crime for an understandable reason that the consequences
would be less.”484
Step 3 – Handling Denials
At this point the interrogator takes steps to discourage denials that the suspect
may embark upon, and returns to the “moral excuse theme” of Step 2.485 This stage
is also important because, “depending on the nature and persistence of the denials,”
the interrogator “may become convinced of the suspect’s actual innocence” or
secondary role.486 In general, according to the authors, an innocent person will not
allow the denials to be cut off, while a guilty individual will eventually “submit
to the investigator’s return to a theme.”487 Thus, the investigator should cut off
the denials, discourage them, evaluate the suspect’s responses for indications of
truthfulness, and attempt to return to the selected themes.488
Step 4 – Overcoming Objections
The guilty suspect, according to the authors, will now offer “reasons as to why
he would not or could not commit the crime.”489 Instead of attempting to stop the
suspect from voicing objections, as is done with denials, the interrogator should
indulge the objections and then overcome them.490 The technique is compared to
that of a car salesman, with the interrogator “selling the suspect on the idea of
telling the truth” and turning the objections around by incorporating them in the
interrogation theme.491 The interrogator must recognize the objection, reward it by
acting as though the statement were expected and by not arguing with the suspect,
and then turn the objection around by reversing the significance of the objection,
pointing out the drawbacks if the objection was untruthful, and returning to the
interrogation theme.492

482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492

Inbau, see note 109, p. 213.
John E. Reid and Associates, see note 473.
Id.
Inbau, see note 109, p. 213.
Id., p. 305.
Id., p. 213.
Id., p. 305-330.
Id., p. 213.
Id., p. 331.
Id., p. 333.
Id., p. 333-336.

188

Step 5 – Procurement and Retention of a Suspect’s Attention
If the interrogator shows no signs of being convinced by the objections, the
authors suggest the only strategy left for the guilty suspect who does not want to
tell the truth is “to psychologically withdraw from the interrogation and ignore
the investigator’s theme;” according to the authors, innocent suspects will not
withdraw.493 In order to procure and retain the withdrawn suspect’s attention, the
interrogator should move his chair closer to the suspect, establish and maintain
eye contact, use visual aids, and use hypothetical questions since “we are all
conditioned to respond to questions.”494
Step 6 – Handling the Suspect’s Passive Mood
After the interrogator has gained the subject’s attention in Step 5, the guilty
suspect now becomes “reticent and quiet,” often adopting a defiant posture, but
at the same time becoming more willing to listen.495 The interrogator should
now start to distill the possible reasons for the crime presented in the theme and
concentrate on the core of the selected theme.496 This approach is supplemented
by urging and advising the suspect to tell the truth, moving closer, and continuing
to display understanding and sympathy.497
Step 7 – Presenting an Alternative Question
The interrogator now “offers the guilty suspect the opportunity to start
telling the truth by making a single admission.”498 The Reid Technique suggests
that it is unrealistic “to expect a suspect to suddenly break down and tell the
complete truth about his crime; [instead] it is often necessary to allow the
suspect to initially make a first admission of guilt and then attempt to develop
the full confession.”499 The alternative question “presents to the suspect a choice
between two explanations” for the crime, one much more attractive and morally
acceptable.500 At the same time, the alternative question is “loaded”; by accepting
the alternative explanation, the suspect also acknowledges having committed the
crime — the single admission that now leads to confession.501 Some criticize
this step as forcing the suspect to incriminate himself, but the Reid proponents
point out that “the suspect always has a third choice, which is to say that neither
alternative is true.”502 An example of an appropriate alternative question is, “Did
you plan this out months in advance, or did it pretty much happen on the spur of

493

Id., p. 338.
Id., p. 338-345.
495
Id., p. 345.
496
Id., p. 346.
497
Id., p. 347-348.
498
Id., p. 353.
499
John E. Reid and Associates, Selecting the Proper Alternative Questions, Monthly Investigator
Tips, September 2004, athttp://www.reid.com/educational_info/r_tips.html?serial=109398430514122
9&print=[print], accessed 13 March 2005.
500
Inbau, see note 109, p. 353.
501
Id.
502
John E. Reid and Associates, Defending the Reid Technique of Interrogation, at http://www.reid.
com/educational_info/critictechniquedefend.html, accessed 13 March 2005.
494

189

the moment?” with the suspect encouraged to accept the positive choice (spur of
the moment). 503 An example of an improper alternative question would be, “Do
you want to be charged with first degree murder, which will mean life in prison, or
was it just manslaughter, where it happened [sic] on the spur of the moment?” 504
Step 8 – Having the Suspect Orally Relate Various Details of
the Offense
Even after the suspect admits guilt by accepting one of the choices presented
in the alternative question, it still takes great effort, according to the authors, to
draw out the rest of the details.505 Once the suspect makes the initial admission
the interrogator should move quickly toward eliciting further admissions, first
through a “statement of reinforcement” and then through questions that call for
longer responses and avoid emotionally charged terminology.506
Step 9 – Converting an Oral Confession into a Written Confession
See discussion below.
Royal and Schutt
Other authors make suggestions that are remarkably similar to the nine-step
Reid Technique. However, few lay their approaches out in a similar step-by-step
process that constantly moves forward toward the goal of eliciting a confession or
information. Royal and Schutt come closest to an overarching schema when they
suggest the following steps to a successful interrogation:
Undermine Suspect’s Confidence of Success
The interrogator should “demonstrate the futility of [the suspect’s] position”
by “blocking all non-cooperative avenues of escape.” The interrogator must
detect deception, overcome alibis, and emphasize “the quality and quantity of
incriminating evidence and other information derogatory to the subject.”507 In
essence, the authors recommend a verbal “trap.”508
Offer the Suspect a Mutually Acceptable Solution
“Try to convince the suspect that: 1. He is confronted with a personal
emergency; 2. Since he cannot escape, he must find a way out; 3. No available
solution will be pleasant; 4. Your proposal [will] result in less unpleasantness than
any of the other solutions.”509

503
504
505
506
507
508
509

Id.
John E. Reid and Associates, see note 502.
Inbau, see note 109, p. 365-66.
Id., 366-67.
Royal and Schutt, see note 407, p. 119.
Id.,p. 120.
Id., p. 121.

190

Make Submission Tolerable
The suspect will be more likely to confess — which the authors suggest
involves the surrender of “his very being and his own free will and destiny into
the hands of the interrogator” — if the interrogator has conveyed objectivity,
sincerity, and sympathy.510
Encourage Acquiescence and Pursue Indicators of Compliance
At the first signs that a suspect is responding to the interrogator’s suggestions,
the interrogator should “begin to diminish other confession-inhibiting factors and
promote incentives to confess” through theme development such as that suggested
by Reid (discounting fear, minimization, etc.).511
Consolidate Accomplishments
“When a criminal violator does submit and agrees to cooperate, the gain
should be immediately consolidated and rendered as irreversible as possible.”512
Aubry
Aubry takes a far less standardized approach to the interrogation process, and
indeed presents no schema for it. Instead, Aubry’s text lists the various approaches
and then discusses the utility of each. Like the other authors, he observes that
interrogation techniques “depend upon the subject’s degree of implication and
participation in the crime; the facts pertinent to his apprehension; the amount
and type of evidence that links him with the crime; and the manner in which he
participated in the crime.”513
Aubry begins by listing what he calls the various interrogation approaches
and explaining their respective utility. These are:
1.

Direct approach – best “where the guilt of the subject is certain, or
reasonably certain;”

2.

Indirect approach – best “where the degree of guilt is indicated with
something less than reasonable certitude;”

3.

Emotional approach – depends on the personal qualities of the suspect
— religious, emotional, etc.;

4.

Subterfuge – “a very effective approach,” but should only be used if
the guilt of the suspect is “reasonably certain,” the “so-called standard
approaches have been tried and have failed,” and the interrogator is very
skilled and experienced in interrogation.514

The variations on these broad approaches mirror many of the themes that the
Reid Technique suggests in Step 2, and include:
510
511
512
513
514

Id., p. 122.
Id.
Id., p. 128.
Aubry and Caputo, see note 406, p. 91.
Id., p. 75-77.

191

- Indifference

- Sympathy or Sympathetic
- “Too Great a Temptation”
- “Only Human to Have Acted
That Way”

- Kindness

- Helpful

- Friendliness

- Extenuation

- Mitigation

- Shifting the Blame

- “Hot and Cold”

- Lessening the Degree of Guilt

- Magnifying the Degree of Guilt

- Minimizing the Consequences

- The “Fait Accompli”

- Bluffing

- The Stern, Business-like Approach - Compounding Falsehoods
- Pretense of Physical Evidence

- Repetition of One Theme

- Mental Relief Through Having
Told the Truth

- Perseverance

- Appeals to Decency and Honor

- “What’s Your Side of the Story?”

- Tearing Down and Building Up

- “Just Tell the Truth.”515

Each of these approaches and variations is explained in detail in Chapter
5 of the Aubry text. Aubry then lists several “general” interrogation techniques,
including:
•

Crumble defenses by establishing motive, premeditation, capability and
opportunity of and to [sic] commit the crime.

•

Establish and demonstrate intent.

•

Hammer away at the subject hard and persistently.

•

Nibble off little pieces of the interrogation cake. Concentrate on crumbs,
don’t bite off pieces too big to chew.

•

Ask concise, brief questions, trim off all extra words. Be specific. Be
exact. Ask questions that can be answered by simple yes or no. Practice
and seek for economy of words.

•

Do not ask questions which request or invite the expression of an
opinion.

•

Avoid leading questions as well as opinion questions because both types
are weak and ineffective techniques; leading questions are, in a sense,
“unfair to the subject.” 516

Aubry finally presents a list of specific interrogation techniques, with an entire
chapter then devoted to the type of suspect with which each may be successful.
The specific techniques include:
515
516

Id., p. 75.
Id., p. 104.

192

•

The Singleness of Purpose

•

The Business-like Attitude

•

Calm and Matter-of-Fact

•

Don’t Be Shocked Whatever the Provocation

•

Let the Subject Tell His Story

•

Let the Subject Tell a Few Lies

•

A Waste of Your Time and My Time

•

You’re Just Hurting Your Loved Ones

•

Proven Lies So Tell the Truth

•

Hammer at Right and Wrong

•

How About Your Conscience?

•

Establishing Motives

•

Hate to Be in Your Shoes

•

Things Look Awfully Bad for You

•

Confusion by False Incidents

•

Confession of Co-Defendant; and the Genuine Confession517

In many ways these lists mirror the type of theme development in Step 2
of the Reid Technique. Aubry leaves the impression, however, that despite his
attempts to describe which approach or technique to use with which subject, an
interrogator will only be able to choose the appropriate method after years of
experience. In that sense, Aubry’s list of specific interrogation techniques is in
the end more descriptive than prescriptive. Indeed, as Aubry notes, “the approach
(should) be adapted to the type, character, and general background of the person
being interrogated; the known facts, events and incidents of the crime which has
been committed; and the type, kind, nature and extent of the physical evidence
available.”518 Because Aubry does not present an overarching schema for the
interrogation like that of the Reid Technique, his presentation is more helpful in
understanding the possible dynamics at play in an interrogation than in guiding
the interrogator through the process.
Kinesic Interrogation
Like the other techniques, Kinesic Interrogation recognizes that the interrogator
“cannot depend on a singular, standardized approach to the interrogation that is
applied to all deceptive subjects.”519 The Kinesic Interrogation Phase is, like
the Reid Technique, a continuation of the initial interview. First the interrogator
makes the “interrogation attack,” confronting the suspect with the accusation and

517
518
519

Id., p. 105.
Id., p. 75.
Walters, see note 411, p. 2.

193

perhaps the evidence.520 Rapport building, in the Kinesic Interrogation, is only
necessary if the suspect has an introverted personality, while the extrovert can
be confronted in a more formal, business-like manner.521 Either way, the suspect
is expected to react with one of several “ego defense mechanisms” — denial,
displacement, intellectualization, rationalization, minimization, etc. — that he
uses to defend against the initial accusation. 522 The interrogator must then “disarm”
each mechanism in turn.523 The interrogator is able to do this by identifying the
suspect’s “subconscious miscues” — verbalizations of the suspect’s internal
monologue.524 The interrogator then appropriates those miscues (though not word
for word), incorporating them into his questions so as to match the suspect’s state
of mind.525
It is at this point that the interrogator can “make the final push” for a
confession.526 Walters sets several rules and prescriptions for this stage:

520
521
522
523
524
525
526
527

1.

An interrogator should never engage in any behavior which
would force even the truthful subject to confess.

2.

A false confession is most likely to have been obtained from a
subject who is mentally deficient.

3.

An interrogator will find that most subjects are prepared to
blame alcohol or drugs for their behavior.

4.

A successful attack on denial requires that the interrogator
review real or circumstantial evidence with the subject every 3
to 5 minutes.

5.

A successful practical Kinesic Interrogation requires the
appropriate assessment and attack of the subject’s primary
dominant personality (i.e., introverted or extroverted, as well as
subtypes of extrovert).

6.

A successful practical Kinesic Interrogation requires the
interrogator to correctly identify and respond to the subject’s
five basic stress-response states (anger, depression, denial,
bargaining, acceptance). These progress in turn and the
interrogator should shift techniques as each state arises.

7.

Once the subject begins to break in small areas, the interrogator
should begin to attack with reality-based comments.527

Id., p. 209.
Id., p. 216-217.
Id., p. 208.
Id., p. 210.
Id., p. 210-211.
Id., p. 211.
Id.
Id., p. 211-217.

194

Good Cop/Bad Cop
One interrogation technique stands apart in the public consciousness as the
prototypical approach to interrogations and so merits brief discussion here: the
so-called good cop/bad cop technique (“GC/BC”). While there are few published
studies of specific techniques, GC/BC has generated unique interest. Rafaeli et al.
interviewed criminal interrogators and bill collectors, identifying five variations
on GC/BC (the formal term they use is “emotional contrast strategies”) that they
use to convey “a mix of expressed positive and negative emotions in order to
wield influence over target persons.”528
1. Sequential good cop, bad cop
The suspect is first exposed to an interrogator who “consistently
displays either positive or negative emotion,” and then to a
second interrogator who displays a “contrasting demeanor.”529
Anecdotal evidence suggests that beginning with a display of
negative emotions accentuates the suspect’s appreciation of the
subsequent, more civilized approach.530
2. Simultaneous good cop, bad cop
The suspect is exposed to two interrogators, each displaying
either positive or negative emotions.531 Interrogators may “not
only present different demeanors to the suspect, but also create
perceptual contrast by arguing with each other in front” of the
suspect about what type of treatment he deserved.532
3. One person playing both roles
A single interrogator “vividly displays” both emotions to a target
person, alternating “between displaying a harsh, demanding
demeanor and a pleasant, friendly demeanor.”533 The difficulty
with this approach is that each demeanor “must appear genuine
if the interrogator wishes to wield influence.”534
4. Good cop in contrast to hypothetical bad cop
The interrogator “playing the good cop role communicates to
the [suspect] that if he or she does not comply with the good

528
Anat Rafaeli et al., “Emotional Contrast Strategies as Means of Social Influence: Lessons
from Criminal Interrogators and Bill Collectors,” The Academy of Management Journal 34, no. 4
(December 1991), 749-775, 752; in each variation, “good cop” refers to roles conveying positive and
supportive feelings such as warmth, friendliness, approval, respect, empathy, and sympathy, while
“bad cop” refers to conveying negative and unsupportive emotions such as coldness, disapproval, lack
of respect, and hostility (758).
529
Id., p. 761.
530
Id.
531
Id., p. 762.
532
Id.
533
Id., p. 762.
534
Id., p. 762-763.

195

cop’s wishes, a nasty, humiliating, esteem-deflating, or even
dangerous interaction with a bad cop will be the next step.”535
The hypothetical bad cop need not even be mentioned explicitly,
but the threat should be clear.536
5. Good cop in contrast to expectations of bad cop
The interrogator presents himself as warm and friendly to a
suspect “who expects to encounter coldness and hostility;”
this has the effect of “amplify[ing] the construed positiveness
of the” interrogator.537 This technique is most successful with
those suspects who seemed scared, anxious, or suspicious of
the interrogator.538
The strategy behind each of the variations was the same: “create a perceptual
contrast for [the] targets, which is proposed to accentuate the construed
positiveness of displayed positive emotions and the construed negativeness
of displayed negative emotions” in order to induce compliance in the target.539
According to Rafaeli et al., three mechanisms came into play that made GC/BC
successful. First, the “accentuated anxiety” with which the suspect may respond
to the bad cop leads to “accentuated relief” in response to good cops.540 As a result,
suspects may comply with the good cop’s requests to escape from the anxiety or
fear they feel during interactions with bad cops or expect to feel during future
interactions.541
Second, the GC/BC contrast accentuates the suspect’s perception that the
good cop is kind and helpful, resulting in pressure “to reciprocate the kindness
by complying with the good cop’s wishes.”542 This occurs because the “actual or
hypothetical contrasting unpleasant person” creates the impression that the good
cop’s positive feelings are “especially unusual and pronounced.”543
Third, because the suspect develops “accentuated feelings of relief in response
to [the] good cop,” and (it is hoped) comes to believe he is kind and helpful, a
feeling of trust develops.544 Once the suspect believes that the good cop is truthful
and “truly concerned for [the suspect’s] well-being,” it becomes easier for the
interrogator to convince the suspect that compliance is in his own best interest.545
In essence, all five variations, as well as the three identified mechanisms,
rely on building rapport between the good cop and the suspect, much like that

535
536
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545

Id., p. 763.
Id.
Id., p. 764.
Id.
Id., p. 752.
Id., p. 764.
Id.
Id., p. 764-765.
Id.
Id., p. 765.
Id.

196

suggested by Inbau et al., Royal and Schutt, and Aubry. The only difference is
that the rapport is built not only on the basis of the positive interaction between
interrogator and suspect, but also on the fear, anxiety, or anger caused by the actual
or perceived bad cop. However, the analysis of the GC/BC technique provides a
window into the workings of rapport-building, and re-emphasizes its importance
in any successful interrogation.
Detecting Deception
The text describing the Reid Technique does not go beyond BSA in offering
suggestions on detecting deception. However, BSA is an integrated system of
analysis that can be incorporated at all stages of the interview/interrogation
encounter (see discussion above). Similarly, the Kinesic approach is based on
PKAP, which also can and should be integrated into the entire interrogation
proceeding (see discussion above).
Traditional lie detection has focused on verbal and nonverbal communication.
At various points, behaviors that were thought to indicate deceit have included
speech hesitation, speech errors, changes in pitch of voice, changes in speech rate,
frequency of pauses, pause durations, gaze, smiling, blinking, self-manipulations
(e.g., scratching), illustration with hands and arms, hand and finger movement
without the arms, leg and foot movements, head movements, trunk movements,
and shifting positions.546 For instance, in 1965, Aubry listed “flushing or paleness
of skin,” “pulse rate increase or decrease,” and even “licking of the lips,” among
a generous list of indicators of deception.547 Obviously, many of these behaviors
are exhibited by individuals in everyday conversation, and some even contradict
others as supposed signs of deception.
In a survey of the empirical studies on behaviors exhibited during deception,
Vrij has accumulated several results that will be useful to the interrogator searching
for deception. The studies, when taken together in a meta-analysis, are mostly
inconclusive for the exhibited behavior, and in fact only three general trends can
be found.
Verbal Characteristics
1.

Liars tend to have a higher-pitched voice than truth-tellers (probably
caused by stress), but the difference is so small as to be detectable only
with sophisticated equipment.548

2.

Liars seem to pause for longer when they speak than do truth-tellers.549

Non-vocal Characteristics
1.

Liars tend to move their arms, hands, fingers, feet, and legs less than
truth-tellers.

546
Alberet Vrij, Detecting Lies and Deceit: The Psychology of Lying and the Implications for
Professional Practice (New York: John Wiley and Sons, 2000), 33.
547
Aubry and Caputo, see note 406, p. 123-134.
548
Vrij, see note 546, p. 32-33.
549
Id., p. 33.

197

What is most striking about this list, according to Vrij, is everything it does
not include. The findings “contradict[] the stereotypical beliefs that many people
hold about non-verbal indicators of deception.”550 It turns out that Vrij’s metaanalysis demonstrates that although “observers expect liars to show nervous
behaviour and behaviours which indicate intense thinking,” this is not the case
for the majority of liars.551 Thus, “people are usually poor at detecting lies when
they pay attention to someone’s behaviour.”552
Vrij does concede, as Inbau et al. argue, that experimental studies may not be
the most conducive to actually observing deceptive behavior; as he notes, it may
be that the subjects “simply [are] not nervous enough during these experiments.”553
Moreover, in the majority of the studies the lie-catchers are college students
who volunteer for the studies.554 In a meta-analysis of those studies that used
professional lie-catchers as observers, however, the professionals did no better
than the college students.555 One might also suggest that in the real world, where
suspects are motivated to prevaricate for fear of losing their freedom, certain
indicators of deception would be more obviously on display. However, not enough
empirical studies of deception detection have been carried out in the field to know
whether extra motivation to lie will increase indicative behaviors. Fortunately for
interrogators, “it is possible to improve people’s ability to detect lies.”556 Studies
using various training procedures all revealed limited improvements in the ability
to detect deceit, although, surprisingly, the studies show students benefiting more
from the training than did police officers.557 Vrij speculates that police officers
may have scored lower because they did not believe the information they were
being taught.558
In the end, Vrij concludes that the best hopes for lie detection are found in
observing both emotional expressions and those behaviors influenced by content
complexity (latency period, speech errors, speech hesitations, hand, arm, foot and
leg movements).559 He gives interrogators several “Guidelines for the Detection
of Deception via Behavioural Cues:”

550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559

1.

Lies may only be detectable via non-verbal cues if the liar experiences
fear, guilt or excitement (or any other emotion), or if the lie is difficult to
fabricate.

2.

It is important to pay attention to mismatches between speech content
and non-verbal behaviour, and to try to explain those mismatches. Keep

Id., p. 38.
Id.
Id., p. 57.
Id., p. 39.
Id., p. 74.
Id., p. 75.
Id., p. 95.
Id., p. 94-95.
Id., p. 95.
Id., p. 97.

198

in mind the possibility that the person is lying, but consider this as only
one of the possible reasons for this mismatch.
3.

Attention should be directed towards deviations from a person’s “normal”
or usual patterns of behaviour, if these are known. The explanation for
such deviations should be established. Each deviation may indicate that
the person is lying, but do not disregard other explanations for these
deviations.

4.

The judgement of untruthfulness should only be made when all other
possible explanations have been negated.

5.

A person suspected of deception should be encouraged to talk. This is
necessary to negate the alternative options regarding a person’s behaviour.
Moreover, the more a liar talks, the more likely it is that they [sic] will
finally give their lies away via verbal and/or non-verbal cues (as they
continuously have to pay attention to both speech content and non-verbal
behaviour).

6.

There are stereotyped ideas about cues to deception (such as gaze aversion,
fidgeting, and so on), which research has shown to be unreliable indicators
of deception. The actual indicators are listed in Chapter 2 [see discussion
above]. These can be a guide, but bear in mind that not everyone will
exhibit these cues during deception, and the presence of such cues may
indicate deception, but does not do so in every case.560

Based on his research, Vrij identifies the “seven aspects [that] characterize
a good liar: i) being well prepared; (ii) being original; (iii) thinking quickly; (iv)
being eloquent; (v) having a good memory; (vi) not experiencing feelings of fear,
guilt of duping, delight while lying; and (vii) being good at acting.”561 In theory, if
the interrogator can recognize these character aspects, he can at least identify the
suspect who will be better at lying, and thus can search more closely for clues to
the occurrence of deception. Indeed, Vrij lays out guidelines for the interrogator
who must overcome the good liar’s deceit and detect the deceptions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Be suspicious;
Be probing;
Do not reveal important information;
Be informed;
Ask liars to repeat what they have said before;
Watch and listen carefully and abandon stereotypes;
Compare liars’ behavior with their natural behavior.562

Ultimately, Vrij comes to a similar conclusion as that implied by the BSA
used in the Reid Technique: observe the baseline behavior of the suspect, and then

560
561
562

Id., p. 98, Box 3.3.
Id., p. 210.
Id., p. 222-225.

199

observe how that changes once certain stimuli are introduced such as challenging
questions and presentation of evidence.
Securing the Confession
Step 9 of the Reid Technique covers “Converting an Oral Confession into
a Written Confession.” The authors recommend several techniques that lead to
confessions that will stand up both to the legal and practical requirements of the
judicial system: the use of readable and understandable language, avoidance of
leading questions (if the confession is a question-and-answer type), use of the
confessor’s own language, inclusion of personal history, inclusion of intentional
errors for correction by the confessor, a reading and signing of the confession
with witnesses, only one written confession, and confinement of the confession
to one crime.563 Aubry recommends similar steps with no material variations.564
Because there seems to be consensus on this point, Inbau et al.’s text can stand
alone without further discussion.

Section 4. How an Interrogation Can “Go Wrong”
Finally, it is worth considering how an interrogation can “go wrong.” An
interrogation that has gone wrong is one that either elicits false information that
the interrogator believes is true, or that has negative, long-term effects on the
suspect or societal perceptions of law enforcement. Gudjonsson identifies several
ways an interrogation can “go wrong,” many of which echo the warnings of Inbau
et al., Aubry, and Royal and Schutt’s guidelines for interrogation:
•

False confessions due to coercion,

•

Inadmissible confessions,

•

Coerced confessions resulting in resentment,

•

Coercion resulting in post-traumatic stress disorder,

•

Undermining public confidence, and

•

“Boomerang Effect.” 565

False confessions may result where interrogators assume the suspect is guilty,
either by approaching the interrogation with pre-set assumptions or placing too
much blind faith in their ability to detect deception.566 “The greater the pressure
during interrogation, the greater the likelihood of false confessions.”567 Of course,
a false confession is not only useless, but also actually harms the investigation, as
the real perpetrator remains free and the investigation is closed. In addition, once
word emerges of overly coercive interrogation techniques, public confidence

563
564
565
566
567

Inbau, see note 109, p. 377-389.
Aubry and Caputo, see note 406, p. 195-207.
Gudjonsson, see note 110, p. 34-36.
Id., p. 34.
Id.

200

in the police may be undermined, which, according to Gudjonsson, encourages
police corruption.568
Coercive and manipulative interrogation techniques may not only result in
false confessions, but the confessions, even if true, may also be inadmissible if
obtained in violation of legal standards. An additional, unintended consequence
of an overly coercive interrogation is possible long-lasting resentment and
bitterness among offenders.569 Gudjonsson points to the additional possibility of
post-traumatic stress disorder in especially coercive interrogations, although no
studies directly support such a relationship.570
Lastly, the so-called “boomerang effect” may occur when suspects “who
would have confessed in their own time refuse to do so when they feel they are
being rushed or unfairly treated.”571 The other possible boomerang effect is the
eventual retraction of a confession by a suspect who confessed under overly
coercive conditions.572

Section 5. Theory vs. Technique in the Literature
The interrogation techniques advocated in the literature can for the most
part be characterized as one-size-fits-all. They take little account of the factors
that the empirical research shows might affect a suspect’s willingness to confess,
and provide little or no variation for different types of suspects. While all of the
technical guides point out that no single interrogation technique works with every
suspect, and indeed that every suspect is different, for the most part they provide
little guidance on how to adjust interrogation techniques for suspects of different
ages, cultures, ethnicities, and criminal history, for crimes of greater seriousness,
or for cases in which the interrogator has stronger evidence. The only factor that all
of the texts cite as prompting confession is the length of the interrogation, a factor
that seems to apply across the board and need not be adjusted for any particular
suspect. Despite the variations discussed below, on the whole an interrogator
exposed only to the “how-to” guides would have little sense of a need to adapt the
techniques learned in the texts when confronting different types of suspects.
All of the texts account for seriousness of the offense and strength of the
evidence, but only in indirect fashion. Reid and the other techniques are, to
one degree or another, based on exploiting guilt, which for most suspects is
proportional to the seriousness of the offense. While developing a theme and
overcoming objections, interrogators are certain to use the seriousness of the
offense as part of their “selling” of the idea of confession. At the same time, the
use of minimization reflects the empirical findings that the more seriously the
offense is perceived, the less likely it is that the suspect will confess. Similarly,
interrogators will also use the strength of the evidence to convince suspects that
568
569
570
571
572

Id., p. 36.
Id., p. 35.
Id.
Id., p. 36.
Id.

201

they have few alternatives but to confess. This argument can also be used indirectly
in the context of the other motivating factor behind the interrogation techniques:
fear. That said, the texts do not, for the most part, offer specific techniques that
the interrogator should adjust if the crime is more or less serious, or the evidence
stronger or weaker; they make few, if any, explicit recommendations for how to
use these factors to elicit a confession in different situations.
Aubry draws the most distinctions among various types of suspects. Like
the authors of the other texts, Aubry assumes that the basic structure of the
interrogation translates equally from suspect to suspect, and only the specific
approach within that structure should be altered. As previously noted, he lays out
specific interrogation techniques (e.g., The Singleness of Purpose, The Businesslike Attitude, Calm and Matter-of-Fact, etc.) and attempts to identify the type of
suspect for which each should be used. While the prescriptions do seem to take
into account the confession factors that the empirical studies found statistically
significant, they do so in a haphazard way that does not seem useful for the
interrogator in the field. Instead of suggesting adjustments to be made based on
the various factors, Aubry instead seeks to prescribe a single technique for what
he apparently considers a comprehensive list of the types of suspects one might
encounter. The interrogator is left to memorize the various techniques and the
circumstances in which they apply, instead of learning how to adjust techniques
for specific confession factors. Thus, if an interrogator were to encounter a suspect
of a different sort than those listed, Aubry’s text would not help him to adapt
techniques to that suspect.
The Reid Technique attempts to account for some of the confession factors,
but ultimately fails to provide a guide on adjusting interrogation techniques for
the various statistically significant factors leading to confession. Like the other
texts, the Reid Technique assumes that the basic structure of the interrogation
— rapport-building, theme development, alternative question, etc. — will work
across the board for a variety of suspects, regardless of the specific characteristics
of the individual. Only within that structure does the Reid text offer some
adjustments to make, and then only in one particular area: for emotional and
non-emotional offenders, who require either a sympathetic or factual analysis
approach, respectively.573 However, it should be noted that empirical studies have
not identified the emotionalism of the suspect as a factor that affects a suspect’s
willingness to confess. At the same time, while such differentiation may be
useful, it is also very basic. According to the empirical research, age, mental
state, and previous convictions/confessions are the characteristics that might
affect a suspect’s likelihood of confession. While the emotional/non-emotional
dichotomy may reflect some of those factors, one cannot assume that they do
so across the board. Moreover, the non-emotional young offender may require a
different approach than the non-emotional middle-aged offender, yet the Reid text
makes no such distinction. Like the Aubry text, the Reid Technique gives very
few specific prescriptions for how to adjust interrogation techniques in response

573

Inbau, see note 109, p. 210.

202

to the confession factors. Moreover, it gives no prescriptions at all for adjusting
the overarching interrogation structure on the basis of the suspect’s individual
characteristics.
Although all the texts caution interrogators to remember that each suspect
is an individual with his or her own unique traits, such generalized admonitions
are practically worthless and are not reflected in the main thrust of the texts.
Beyond the factors discussed above, the texts do not provide interrogators with
shifts in tactics based on the traits that affect confession.574 Indeed, they do not
even acknowledge the statistically significant confession factors in any specific
manner. Moreover, even when they do note that some factors may affect the
interrogations (for example, Walters cautions interrogators to consider differences
among cultures when attempting to detect deception), they rarely discuss specific
techniques that should be tailored to the suspect. Instead, they give interrogators
only general tactics without telling them how to adjust the techniques for the
critical confession factors.
Finally, although the previously discussed Leo study has limited utility,
the four techniques he identifies as most successful in obtaining confessions
(appealing to the suspect’s conscience, identifying and pointing out contradictions
in the suspect’s denial and story, using praise or flattery, and offering moral
justifications or psychological excuses for the crime) are the same as or similar
to techniques advocated in other literature. Since the texts all were written before
the Leo study, it does not appear that they were based on any empirical work in
the field — indeed, they make no claims that they are. However, if Leo is correct,
it seems that the techniques they advocated are indeed among the most successful.
An important caution, of course, is that Leo’s study was conducted in a single
precinct, with only Leo himself coding the interrogation techniques observed.
Moreover, we do not know the specific characteristics of the suspects whose
interrogations Leo observed, and thus do not know if important adjustments are
necessary for success with suspects of varying characteristics.
Ultimately, empirical studies may show that there is no need to adjust to
the techniques advocated in the literature on the basis of the various confession
factors. Perhaps the Reid Technique in its basic form works as well for old and
young, Latino and white, etc. However, as of now there is no proof that this is
the case. At this juncture, we simply cannot say whether the techniques in the
literature are effective across the board, or whether the confession factors that are
statistically significant call for adjustments that the texts do not include.

574
The Royal and Schutt and Walters texts do not provide for adjustments based on specific suspect
characteristics. They instead generally point out that the interrogator should be aware of differences
among suspects and should take those into account.

203

PART II: LAW ENFORCEMENT PRACTICES
The following sections of the paper review the interrogation training and
practices of various law enforcement organizations. While not an exhaustive
survey of all such organizations, the information provides a window into training
available to federal, state, and city law enforcement officers in the United States.
Additionally, to offer some comparative perspective, we provide an overview of
interrogation training and practices in Great Britain and Israel.

Section 6. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI
Academy at Quantico, Virginia)575
The FBI Academy provides training to all future FBI agents. The new agent
training consists of 17 weeks of instruction totaling 643.5 hours. As part of this
training program, the FBI offers 15 classes, totaling 69 hours, on interviewing
and interrogation. Of this program, 9 classes are devoted to interrogation, totaling
27 hours of training. The interrogation curriculum covers, if only generally,
interrogation theory and practice. The training also offers two practical exercises
on interrogation, each lasting about 25–50 minutes. Finally, the training pays
constant attention to the documentation and forms that agents must complete and
file in connection with interrogations. According to FBI Academy staff, this last
element of the training — necessary filings and documentation — represents a
substantial portion of the time and attention allocated to interrogation training.
Four hours of training about detection of deception are also included in the
aforementioned 69 hours of general interview/interrogation training.
According to literature provided to trainees, “a successful interrogation
results in a guilty or involved criminal suspect’s making a confession or admitting
participation in an illegal activity.”576 However, this avowed goal of obtaining
confessions is downplayed by other staff members of the FBI Academy, who
clarify that interrogation is best conceived of as a means to lower resistance to
telling the truth. FBI Academy staff add that entering an interrogation with the
sole goal of obtaining a confession means setting oneself up for failure. Whatever
the ultimate objective, the FBI has adopted what it calls the Direct Accusation
Approach as its chosen method of interrogation. This approach, whose elements
are described below, closely tracks the Reid Technique, with the major difference
being that the FBI’s approach relies on confronting the suspect with the evidence
available to motivate a confession.
Like Reid, the FBI training teaches agents to conduct a pre-interrogation
interview. The FBI offers its agents the following eight-step process to guide
them through the interview, which are the same steps followed in interviewing
witnesses and victims:

575
Unless otherwise referenced, the information in this section is derived from a visit to the Federal
Bureau of Investigation Academy, Quantico, Virginia, 8-9 March 2005. Our host during the visit was
Brian Boetig, Supervisory Special Agent in the Bureau’s Law Enforcement Communication Unit.
576
D. Vessel, Conducting Successful Interrogations (Quantico, VA: Interviewing and Interrogation
Law Enforcement Communication Unit, FBI Academy, revised 14 October 2004), 70.

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1.

Preparation: Agents are urged to become thoroughly acquainted
with the case and the subject’s background prior to entering the
interview room.

2.

Introduction: Agents introduce themselves to the suspect and
explain to him/her the nature of the interview.

3.

Rapport Building: As is explained below, rapport building is
the cornerstone of the FBI’s entire interview/interrogation
process. During this stage, investigators attempt to build a good
relationship with subjects.

4.

Questioning: The agent asks the subject questions following what
the FBI calls a deductive funnel. This method of questioning
starts with open-ended questions meant to foster narration on
the part of the subject, followed by more closed questions such
as indicator questions, identification questions, multiple choice
questions, and leading (yes or no) questions.

5.

Verification: Having concluded the questioning, the agent
reviews everything the suspect has told him/her for accuracy
and further recall.

6.

Catch all: The agent allows the suspect to add anything he/she
considers relevant or absent from his/her prior statements.

7.

Departure: If the suspect will not be interrogated, arrested,
or otherwise detained after the interview, the agent makes
arrangements for future contact.

8.

Critique: The agent evaluates the information obtained in light
of the interview goals.

Though seemingly rigid, FBI Academy staff emphasized that this interview
approach is meant as a roadmap rather than a strict list, and should be adapted as
the situation requires.
FBI training emphasizes the importance of a non-accusatory pre-interrogation
interview for a number of reasons. First, the interview provides interrogators
with a behavioral baseline against which to evaluate the suspect’s subsequent
behavior and responses (both verbal and non-verbal) during the confrontational
interrogation. Second, it provides investigators with the suspect’s version of the
events, which could later be used during interrogation to point out contradictions
or lies. Finally, FBI staff noted that the pre-interrogation interview functions as
the first contact between interrogator and suspect and, given its non-accusatory
nature, offers a fertile opportunity to begin establishing rapport with the suspect.
After the pre-interrogation interview, the agents transition into the actual
interrogation, which, as mentioned above, follows the Bureau’s Direct Accusation
Approach. Though not formulated as a strict step-based process, the method can

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be divided into a four-step plan.577 First, an interrogator confronts the suspect
with the facts and evidence that implicate him, and accuses him of committing,
or being complicit in, the crime. As in the training provided by the Federal Law
Enforcement Training Center (FLETC; see below), this direct accusation is meant
to present a picture of overwhelming certainty that the authorities know of the
suspect’s involvement in the crime. Conversely, this step sets the FBI’s approach
apart from the Reid Technique, which does not advocate such direct presentation
of the evidence in the interrogator’s possession.
As might be expected, suspects usually meet these direct accusations with
denials; in fact, a suspect’s failure to deny involvement is treated as a strong
indicator of guilt. FBI training teaches agents to cut off or stop the suspect’s
denials by interrupting and preventing any additional attempts at denial, and
underscores that a guilty suspect’s denials will weaken as the accusations
continue, while an innocent suspect’s will normally grow in frequency and
intensity. FBI training literature notes that an effective way to cut off denials
“involves interrogators repeatedly acknowledging the subject’s participation in the
crimes while questioning only their motivations for committing the acts.”578 FBI
training literature alerts future agents to the possibility that guilty suspects will
offer protests, or reasons for their innocence, in response to the direct accusations
after denials have failed. Because these protests usually have some factual basis
and can be defended comfortably by the suspect, FBI training urges agents to
redirect and incorporate them into the following step, rather than attempting to
refute them.
During the third step, interrogators engage in what practically amounts to a
dialogue through which they present themes and arguments meant to persuade
the suspect to confess. In essence, this theme-building step depends on the three
basic tools of rationalization, projection, and minimization to achieve its ends.
This is consistent with the Reid Technique and the training provided to other
federal law enforcement agencies in FLETC. The interrogator derives the themes
and opportunities to rationalize, project, and minimize from a combination of
information provided by the suspect during the pre-interrogation interview and
interrogation, and from the interrogator’s own general personal experience in
relation to human behavior. FBI training literature notes that “the chances of
obtaining a confession increase 25 percent for every hour (up to 4 hours) of
interrogation.”579 Consequently, interrogators are encouraged to have enough
themes and arguments to fill three to four hours of monologue. Throughout their
monologue, interrogators should seek to prevent the suspect’s mental withdrawal,
which is often a response to the failure of their denials and protests. One suggested
tactic to prevent the suspect’s mental withdrawal is to move closer to him and
use his name to gain the suspect’s attention. Additionally, as the interrogator
rationalizes, projects, and minimizes as part of his interrogation monologue, he

577
578
579

Id., p. 73.
Id.
Id., p. 74.

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should also be attentive to signs of receptivity from the suspect. FBI training
emphasizes nonverbal signs such as a drooping head, tears, and the body leaning
forward. When these signs are perceived, interrogators are instructed to reduce
their themes to a succinct concept and proceed to the next step.
The last step in the FBI’s Direct Accusation Approach is the presentation
of a bad/good option. This step of the FBI’s method is identical to Reid’s Step
7, “Presenting an Alternative Question.” By offering the suspect two reasons for
committing the crime, one of which would be unacceptable to the suspect, the
interrogator gives the suspect an opportunity to make an admission. Interrogators
are instructed to suggest that the suspect’s actions were based on the “good” option
rather than the bad, to ask the suspect to confirm this suggestion, and, if it is
confirmed, to begin eliciting the confession. On the other hand, if the suspect fails
to take up the good/bad option, interrogators should spend more time rationalizing,
projecting and minimizing, and offering the suspect reasons to confess. Thus, it
is clear that the interrogation process cannot depend solely on a strict list of steps,
but must be flexible enough to adapt to the particular interrogatory situation at
hand. It is equally clear that the FBI method of interrogation is extremely time
intensive, and requires prolonged interactions between suspect and interrogator to
work properly. Consequently, the Direct Accusation Approach might be ill-suited
for time-constrained situations, such as a “ticking bomb” scenario.
With regard to detecting deception, future FBI agents are not taught to look
for any specific physical or verbal signs of deception, since these can often
be inaccurate and misleading. Instead, trainees are taught to consider clusters
of behavior and note the context in which these behaviors arise. Additionally,
students are urged to compare these behaviors with the baseline behavior shown
by the subject in the non-accusatory pre-interrogation interview. Detection of
deception is thus taught not as a determinative tool but as a means of helping the
interview along and providing interrogators with clues to topics and themes that,
if probed more deeply, might bring suspects closer to a confession.
According to the FBI Academy, rapport is the key element in motivating
people to talk, be it during a non-accusatory pre-interrogation interview or
an interrogation. As such, it is central to the Direct Accusation Approach that
an interrogator be able not only to establish rapport with a suspect but also to
maintain it throughout the interrogation. However, FBI instructors made clear that
establishing and maintaining rapport is the most difficult skill to teach and learn
through a standard training program. Building rapport takes time and dedication,
prompting at least one instructor to recommend that his students attempt to engage
with as many unknown people as possible during their free time. Additionally,
FBI instructors suggested that many of the interpersonal skills necessary to
build and maintain rapport might be innate, and thus highly dependent on the
individual abilities of students. To paraphrase one instructor, rapport is a complex
and constant dance between interrogator and suspect. This dance proceeds from
information obtained through the pre-interrogation interview, common life
experience, and general, sometimes intuitive, knowledge of human behavior and
nature. It is common for agents to mistake rapport for facile chit-chat, which

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suspects often recognize for what it really is: forced and fake. Unlike forced and
spurious conversation, instructors emphasized that, in essence, rapport is based
on mutual respect and fostered by treating suspects with dignity and humanity. As
a general matter, FBI instructors mentioned that an effective interrogator is one
who has strong communication, listening, and interpersonal skills, approaches
interrogations with patience, and can pay close, simultaneous attention to the facts
of the case as well as to external and internal factors during the interrogation.
As may be gleaned from the information above, and as was confirmed by
FBI Academy staff, FBI training in interviewing and interrogation is deliberately
general. This occurs by design rather than chance. The new agent training
is meant to provide individuals who, as a general rule, have had no previous
law enforcement experience with the tools necessary to become competent
criminal investigators in a relatively short time frame. Given the broad range of
experiences and skills each trainee brings to the program, training is therefore
designed to reach what instructors referred to as the lowest common denominator.
As an illustration, one FBI instructor noted that he must tailor his training to a
24-year-old ex-employee of an Internet company who has spent the last 4 years of
his life working in a cubicle without any significant interpersonal contact. Thus,
the training is designed to provide only the skills absolutely necessary to be a
competent criminal investigator.
In theory, this problem could be remedied by future, more detailed training
on specialized and complex subjects such as interrogation. However, continuing
education, also known as “in-training services,” is sparse, and what little is
available is optional and usually offered by independent contractors such as Reid
and Associates.580 The most instructors can do is provide a bibliography of books
and articles on interrogation for further reading to guide future agents in their
voluntary learning process. Consequently, with the exception of those who obtain
additional interrogation training on their own initiative, most FBI agents rely only
on their general FBI Academy training.
Like their counterparts at FLETC, FBI instructors admitted that it is unclear
how much of the training agents actually apply in their interrogations, or how
well they implement the techniques they employ. One instructor noted that he
believed only 25–30% of agents follow what they learn during their interrogation
training. FBI Academy instructors and directors have recognized this as a serious
shortcoming and agreed that it is a pressing issue that requires future research.
To complicate matters further, the FBI, like all other law enforcement
agencies we interviewed, lacks data as to the efficacy of the interrogation
techniques it teaches. Although the instructors have a comprehensive knowledge
and understanding of the literature and empirical studies, no systematic, empirical
580
The scarcity of training is even more evident at the state and city police department levels. With
their experience in dealing with and training police officers from around the country and the world
through the FBI’s National Academy, instructors underscored the fact that most police departments
offer absolutely no formal interrogation training whatsoever. This observation is consistent with our
own contact with the Boston Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police.

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studies have tested the specific FBI approach. This lack of data may be a result of
the FBI’s not yet adopting a policy requiring that all interrogations be videotaped.
FBI instructors noted that such recordings would serve an invaluable training
and evaluative function, allowing them to learn from their mistakes as well as to
monitor what agents actually do in the field.

Section 7. Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
(FLETC)581
The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) provides training to
agents in 81 different federal agencies. It covers all federal criminal investigators
(18–11 job series federal employees) except those in the FBI, Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA), and U.S. Postal Service. It is designed to provide individuals
who have no law enforcement experience with the tools necessary to become
beginning criminal investigators; the specific skill-sets needed for a particular
agency are then taught by that agency. It has a basic curriculum applicable to
all agents and then offers more advanced or specialized training as requested,
either through “add-on” programs for the specific agencies or through private
contractors. The FLETC basic curriculum must be approved by all agencies and is
reviewed regularly on the basis of feedback from the students and the agencies.
FLETC’s primary training in the area of custodial interrogations comes
in the basic Criminal Investigator Training Program (CITP). The heart of the
CITP’s interview/interrogation curriculum is a 10-hour lecture class titled
“Interviewing for Law Enforcement Officers/Criminal Investigators.” CITP also
offers the course in 6- and 12-hour versions covering more or less the same
aspects of interview procedures. The individual agencies choose the program
most appropriate for their agents, and the 10-hour version is most commonly
selected. The course is designed to “provide Federal criminal investigators
(regardless of agency or position description) with foundational interviewing
skills using proven questioning techniques coupled with an awareness of common
behavioral responses. Emphasis is placed on planning the interview, formulating
questions and following the five steps of the law enforcement interview.”582 Of
the 15 objectives of the course, two focus on interrogation: #14: Identify and
apply planning considerations for a confrontational interview, and #15: Identify
and apply the confrontational interview technique. These objectives are covered
through a two-hour lecture class. Although FLETC uses the term “interview,”
the confrontational interview basically amounts to an interrogation, since it is
designed to elicit a confession from a party whom the agents believe to be guilty.
The confrontational interview may or may not be conducted with the suspect in
custody, depending on the agents’ preferences for the particular situation.583
581
Unless otherwise referenced, the information in this section is derived from a visit to the Federal
Law Enforcement Training Center at Glynco, Georgia, 12-13 April 2005. Our host during the visit was
Mark Fallon, Deputy Assistant Director of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
582
Syllabus, Interviewing for Law Enforcement Officers/Criminal Investigators, FLETC Course
#4162, August. 2004.
583
The confrontational interview will hereinafter be referred to as an interrogation for simplicity
and to distinguish it from other interviews.

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The CITP supplements the lectures with lab exercises (ungraded) and practical
exercises (graded) where students conduct interviews and interrogations with roleplaying actors. The number of overall exercises in which each student participates
varies somewhat by agency, but those participating in the CITP Confrontational
Interview Practical Exercise spend four hours in the session, with each student
conducting an interrogation and receiving personalized feedback for about
an hour of that time. In addition, FLETC offers courses in basic interviewing,
communication in interviewing, response analysis, cognitive interviewing
technique, multiple suspect elimination technique (through interviews), field
interviewing, advanced investigative interviewing, and other suspect interview
techniques. The goal behind this varied program is not to tie the students to a
particular regimen, but instead to give them basic interview and interrogation
tools that they can use flexibly in the field.
However, FLETC does provide its students with an overarching schema
for the interview/interrogation process that closely tracks both the Reid School
techniques and the FBI’s Direct Accusation Approach, though not necessarily by
design. The goal of any interview or interrogation, according to FLETC, is to
elicit useful, truthful information. In an interrogation, the goal is to elicit a truthful
confession or at least a detailed lie that can be used in a later interrogation or
prosecution. The major distinguishing feature of the technique taught by FLETC
is the detailed presentation of the evidence to the suspect, a tactic advocated by the
FBI, but rejected by the Reid Technique. According to FLETC, because the agents
trained at the Center generally deal with more sophisticated suspects than do the
police, it is virtually impossible to get them to confess without showing them the
evidence. Thus, as discussed below, FLETC trains its agents to make a monologue
presentation of the evidence to the suspect as part of the interrogation.
Before starting the interrogation, FLETC students are taught to prepare
a topical outline. The outline, meant to be used both in the practical exercises
in class and in the field as preparation for actual interviews and interrogations,
should include the following areas:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Interview/Interrogation Site
Objectives of the Interview/Interrogation
Purpose Statements (to be given to suspect)
Rapport Areas
General Questions
Possible Themes
Choice Questions

The topical outline not only prepares the agents for the encounter, but
also forces them to examine their preceding research and identify gaps in their
information. For instance, if they cannot write down a few areas where they will
be able to establish rapport, they in theory have not learned enough about their
suspect. The outline is meant to be used as a guide throughout the encounter with
the suspect, but agents are taught that they should be ready to throw it out if the
interrogation veers off in a different direction than expected.

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Once the agents have completed their topical outline, they are ready to conduct
the interrogation. FLETC teaches a five-step interview/interrogation technique: 1)
Introduction, 2) Rapport, 3) Questions, 4) Review, and 5) Closing. This approach
is meant to be used in all federal law enforcement interviews, but has special
application in an interrogation. For instance, to pass the CITP Confrontational
Interview Practical Exercise, the students must “demonstrate comprehension of
principles and use of skills competencies for the following:
•

Introduction

•

•
•
•
•
•
Rapport

•

• Properly Established
• Properly Maintained
Questions

Self
Partner
Suspect
Purpose
Credentials

•
•

•

General Questions
Case Presentation — Monologue (Factual Presentation, Themes,
and Choice Questions)
• Recognize and Utilize Suspect’s Nonverbal Behavior
• Demonstrate Effective Personal Nonverbal Behavior
• Appropriate Use of Pauses
Summary

•

• Acknowledge Suspect’s Cooperation
• Summarize Main Points from Notes
Closing
•
•

Acknowledge Suspect’s Cooperation
Contact Information — Primary, Secondary, Suspect”584

The case presentation step mirrors the FBI and Reid interrogation techniques,
with the students taught the following: present the evidence they have gathered
that implicates the suspects and thus overwhelm them with the evidence of
their guilt; present the themes of rationalization, projection, and minimization,
as appropriate; and then present a “choice question.” The emphasis is on the
students’/agents’ doing all the talking in this phase of the interrogation; they are
taught to cut off and overcome objections to avoid an argumentative exchange
that would threaten to ruin the interrogation. FLETC instructors described the
584

Syllabus, CITP Confrontational Interview Practical Exercise, FLETC Course # 4179, February

2005.

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presentation of evidence as a sort of poker game, where the agents hold most
of the cards except one (the confession) and convince the suspect that they
(the agents) can win (get a conviction) even without the last card. The themes
presented to the suspect are the same as those recommended by most of the
texts and the FBI, although FLETC focuses only on the major three (rationalize,
project, minimize). In exactly the same manner as Reid’s Step 7, “Presenting
an Alternative Question” (see discussion above), this section of the interrogation
ends with the agent’s posing a question that posits a “good” and “bad” reason
for committing the crime, thus offering the suspect two choices, both of which
would constitute an admission of guilt. The students are discouraged from using
trickery or deceit during the monologue, both because FLETC instructors believe
that more sophisticated suspects will see through it and because they believe that
suspects will closely watch the investigators, who might present some of the very
indicators of deception that they are trained to look for in the suspect and thus
“tip their hand.”
According to the instructors, the most difficult skill to teach is rapportbuilding, mainly because not enough time is available to spend on the subject.
Moreover, many instructors believed that some of the necessary traits of a good
rapport-builder are innate, while others can be taught. Because the classes are
designed for a wide variety of students, the instructors must again teach to the
lowest common denominator. For instance, some students have a natural ability
to establish rapport with almost anyone, while others engage in forced small talk
that makes the suspect uncomfortable and wary. Thus, like the Boston Police
Department (see discussion below), the instructors attempt to teach the students
to establish rapport through an appearance of confidence and professionalism, and
through the types of questions asked. If the agents are able to engage in small talk
that is ideal, but they are taught not to force the rapport through such techniques.
Instructors also try to focus on so-called “rapport-busters,” meaning questions or
statements that break the rapport that has been established by sending a different
message than that established in the rapport-building stage (e.g., “We’re here to
ask you a few questions.”). As part of that effort, and especially in the advanced
interview classes and “add-on” programs conducted for specific agencies, FLETC
instructors attempt to refine the agents’ questioning skills by emphasizing the use
of narrative questions, as well as direct and precise questions. In addition, FLETC
emphasizes a constant focus on creating an impression of confidence, patience,
and persistence as a necessary component of a successful interview. Indeed,
according to one instructor, confidence is the key to a successful interrogation.
The students are also taught the basics of detecting deception. According to
the FLETC instructors the teaching here closely follows the literature. Students
are not generally taught to look for any specific physical or verbal signals of
deception, but to focus on nonverbal, verbal, and symbolic communications that
occur in clusters as the result of stimuli presented in the form of questions or
evidence by the investigator. Students are taught to consider the culture of the
subject (although they are not taught the ways in which members of a particular
culture might respond to a particular stimulus), to look for clusters of behavior

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that indicate deception, and to note the content of the question asked right before
the cluster of behavior is observed. The curriculum emphasizes that there is no
single indicator of deception, that students must observe all body language and
speech presented by the subject, and that their ability to detect deception will
grow with experience.
As noted, because 81 agencies are involved in setting the curriculum, and
because each lecture class contains either 24 or 48 students, the instructors find
that they must teach to the lowest common denominator. At the same time, many
of the instructors echo the belief of other law enforcement personnel that the best
way to learn is by doing and thus they place particular emphasis on the practical
exercises. The exercises use role-players hired from the local community and
are as realistic as possible. They are conducted in mock-up offices or other
settings to give them a realistic feel, and the students are allowed to set up the
furniture as they see fit. In addition, the scenarios for the various interviews are
somewhat tailored to the specific agency for which the student will work (e.g., a
Secret Service agent may face a scenario involving counterfeit currency); there
are currently 16 different scenarios in use, each with a detailed case history, list
of potential violations, and various pieces of evidence. The instructor sits in a
corner of the room and silently observes the interview, while cameras overhead
record the interactions from several angles. Generally one student takes the role
of primary interrogator, with the other student acting as the secondary who takes
notes, follows up with any additional questions, presents the summary, and in
rare cases jumps in to take over the primary role if the other agent loses control
of the interrogation. After the practical exercise is complete, the students receive
individualized feedback from the instructor in the room. In addition, they have an
opportunity to review the videotape of the interrogation and critique themselves
(critiques that, according to one instructor, are usually harsher than those provided
by the instructors). This allows for teaching at various levels based on individual
students’ needs, as opposed to the one-size-fits-all approach of the lectures.
The training provided by FLETC through the CITP and the other programs
covers only the minimum requirements to be a competent federal law enforcement
agent. The individual agencies then conduct “add-on” courses, either at their
home facilities or through FLETC or private contractors. FLETC also provides
advanced courses in interviewing and interrogation techniques. These courses
are generally available to more senior agents from the various agencies on a
voluntary basis, and are taught either by FLETC instructors or, more often, by
outside contractors. The major contractor for many years was the Reid School,
though recently FLETC has begun to use Wicklander-Zulawski and Associates.
Wicklander-Zulawski, however, teaches the Reid approach as well, under a
special license.
The FLETC instructors indicate that they do not know how much of the
training provided in CITP and the other programs actually makes it to “the
street.” The only opportunity that instructors have to evaluate the efficacy of their
programs (other than survey feedback from the students and agencies) occurs
when former students return to FLETC for advanced training. At that point the

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instructors can determine how much of the initial training the agents retained.
However, the number of agents who come through FLETC for advanced training
is minimal compared to the number of agents who graduate from the Center’s
basic training program. Moreover, FLETC conducts no systematic review of
the students who do return for advanced training, and therefore only anecdotal
evidence of the success of the initial training program is available. Even then the
students who return for advanced training are generally a self-selected group that
is likely to be more interested in interrogation techniques — and thus more likely
to have retained the initial training.
In addition, as with all of the other law enforcement training programs, there
has been no systematic, empirical study of the efficacy of the techniques taught
at FLETC; it appears that most of the support for the techniques comes from
anecdotal evidence. This is in part because, without videotaping interrogations,
it is impossible to determine what techniques are actually used in the field.
The FLETC instructors, noting the number of studies on British interrogation
techniques, indicated that they would welcome videotaping of interrogations to
determine what is and is not working, and also to establish how much of their
training even makes it to the street, regardless of efficacy.

Section 8. Boston Police Department — Homicide
Division585
The Boston Police Department conforms to the general trend among local
law enforcement organizations, focusing its training on the procedural aspects of
interrogation. The officers and detectives receive very little, if any, formal training
on interrogation techniques. The majority of the interrogation training that does
occur is through the Reid School, which is offered as an option to detectives, most
of whom do not choose to participate. The department has no formal manual on
interrogation techniques, not even for divisions such as the homicide unit. Deputy
Superintendent Daniel Coleman, who is currently in charge of the homicide unit,
is putting together a protocol and checklist for interrogation techniques.
This situation can be contrasted with the issuance of guidelines and
extensive training that immediately followed the decision in Commonwealth
v. DiGiambattista,586 which requires electronic recording of all interrogations
conducted in Massachusetts and threatens a jury instruction that casts doubts
on police procedures if no such recording is made. The difference results from
the department’s primary goal, which is to solve cases and obtain convictions,
which in turn leads to an emphasis on the procedures necessary to protect suspects’
constitutional rights, avoid suppression of evidence and suspect statements, and
thus create the easiest path for a jury to convict. The detectives we interviewed
noted that the procedures and training in place regarding interrogation are
not geared toward training interrogators to elicit statements, but instead are
585
Unless otherwise referenced, the information in this section is derived from interviews with
Deputy Superintendent Daniel Coleman of the Boston Police Department, who is also Commander of
BPD’s Homicide Unit, conducted on 11 and 21 March 2005.
586
442 Mass. 423 (2004).

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implemented to ensure that any statement elicited can be presented in a court of
law. This has created a situation where few members of the department receive
any significant formal training in interrogation techniques.587 Indeed, Deputy
Superintendent Coleman reports that when he moved from a uniformed to an
investigational unit he received no additional formalized training. Instead, he
reports that 90% of a successful interrogation is based on intuition, which can
only be developed through experience, on-the-job training, and mentoring.
At the same time, the department uses many of the general techniques
advocated by the Reid School and others. They focus heavily on conducting
thorough pre-interrogation investigations. Detectives stress the importance of
gathering all of the information on the suspect, victim, crime scene, etc., before
entering the interrogation room. In addition, they try not to commence the
interrogation without a clear sense of their goals and objectives. Like all other
law enforcement personnel interviewed, Boston detectives believe that building
rapport and conveying empathy are the keys to a successful interrogation. The
homicide detectives dress in suits every day, are clean-shaven, and work in a
building that one described as looking like an “insurance office”; they note the
importance of removing the suspect from the police station environment. The
setting contains very few reminders that the suspect is in police custody, and the
officers remove all signals that could remind suspects of the consequences of
their actions. The interview/interrogation room is a small, plain room, with only
a whiteboard on the wall and a few chairs and a desk. The room has a two-way
mirror that “no one uses” because a) any time the door opens to the room with the
observers, the people standing behind the mirror can be seen, and b) every suspect
knows what the mirror is and asks to have the blinds closed.
However, the detectives report that the theme-development strategy advocated
by the Reid Technique does not work with most of the suspects they encounter.
They postulate that this is because the strategy is based on the idea that people
feel guilty when they commit crimes, but many of the suspects the homicide
division encounters feel little, if any, remorse for their crimes, are not afraid of
jail, and are mainly concerned with protecting themselves from retaliation on
the street. Instead, the detectives find that, after establishing rapport based on
kindness and professionalism (as opposed to false friendship), a straightforward,
no-nonsense presentation of the situation and evidence is the best approach to
secure a confession.
Despite the lack of formalized training, there is a general pattern to
interrogations conducted in the homicide division. The detectives begin with the
procedural requirements. When the suspect is brought in, usually from the local
police precinct, the detective lets him know that he is under arrest and informs
him of the charges. He advises the suspect of his right to a telephone call, and

587
Supervisors in the BPD further believe that even the small amount of interrogation technique
training that is provided is only somewhat useful, because it must be adapted for the various ages,
cultures, and experiences of the trainees, resulting in a tendency to teach to the lowest common
denominator.

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then advises him of his Miranda rights. The detective then has the suspect sign
a waiver of 6-hour arraignment, and informs the suspect of the opportunity to
have the entire encounter recorded electronically. If the suspect elects to have
the interrogation recorded, the detective re-reads the Miranda rights while the
tape is recording. Even if the suspect declines to have the encounter recorded,
the detectives are trained to get at least the declination on tape. According to
Coleman, over 80% of suspects in general waive their Miranda rights, while only
about 30% of murder suspects do so.
Once the procedural requirements are met, the interrogator moves to rapportbuilding. The rapport is built less on false friendship than on empathy, kindness,
and professionalism. The straightforward techniques used by the department
include dressing in a suit and tie to let the suspect know that the detectives are
“not your average cops” and that they mean business; shaking hands with every
suspect (also giving the detective an opportunity to examine the hands); speaking
courteously and professionally, avoiding use of the suspect’s “lingo”; keeping the
conversation friendly, casual, and not overly official; offering the use of the phone
in a casual manner (e.g., “Do you want to let someone know where you are and
that you are okay?”); and offering food and drink. The detectives believe that this
approach is effective with homicide suspects because most of them understand
the situation they are in; moreover, suspects will only cooperate if they believe
the detective is not hiding anything from them, and can immediately spot attempts
to downplay or minimize the crime and will respond in kind by “playing” with
the interrogator.
Once rapport has been established, detectives prefer not to use trickery or
deceit, though they are allowed to do so under Massachusetts law. According
to them, beyond just being “wrong” this is also ineffective, since it insults the
suspect’s intelligence and can often be exposed; it also is one of the interrogation
tactics that they say can most easily lead to false confessions. At the same time,
they do recommend using trickery to induce lies. This would include, for example,
asking a suspect who has just mentioned a certain road about the tollbooth on
the road, knowing full well that there is no tollbooth on the road and trying to
catch the suspect in a lie. However, the detectives report rarely, if ever, making
up evidence, witnesses, or statements that do not actually exist. At the same time,
they are careful not to give the suspect any information he does not already have,
saying that the entire interrogation procedure is “like a poker game.” This is done
both to keep the suspect from knowing what the detective knows and to prevent
the suspect from appropriating the information for possible false confessions.
The more experienced detectives argue that anyone who goes into an
interrogation looking for a confession is inexperienced and “an idiot.” Such
an approach leads to bias in the interrogation room, where what is needed is
objectivity. The goal of an interrogation should be to gather information, and lies
can often be as useful in an eventual prosecution as a confession. The detective
should look for information that can advance the rest of the investigation,
including information that the suspect does not realize might be useful for the
investigation and prosecution, such as whether he is right-handed or left-handed,

216

or even a seemingly random phone number that can then be traced or tapped. The
detectives are quick to point out that while a confession is useful to have, it must
still be corroborated before a prosecution can move forward.
There is no formalized mechanism for supervision of, or feedback on,
interrogations conducted by the detectives in the homicide unit. Instead, Deputy
Superintendent Coleman or his deputies sometimes take home the audiotapes
of interrogations and listen for problems, providing feedback as necessary.
Feedback is usually given only if a problem is noted, and even then many of
the more experienced detectives find it difficult to change their ways. Coleman
also sends his detectives to court to listen to suppression motions argued by the
District Attorney’s office so that they become aware of potential problems with
interrogation procedures. However, these motions are usually based on legal
procedural issues instead of the actual interrogation techniques. Similarly, the
detectives often go to court to hear cross-examinations of detectives from their
division, as well as closing arguments in cases handled by their division, so they
can understand the questions and tactics used by defense attorneys and better
identify possible problem areas in their interrogations. The detectives note that
one of the most important skills for an interrogator, now that interrogations are
recorded, is to be able to explain his techniques to a jury so that the interrogation
does not appear overly coercive or tainted.
Generally the Boston Police Department does not videotape its interrogations;
the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts decision, like most statutes and court
decisions on the subject, only requires “electronic” recording. Prior to that decision,
the Boston Police Department would conduct the full interrogation, obtain the
confession, and only then start the tape to obtain a recording of the suspect’s
confession. Deputy Superintendent Coleman noted that he initially opposed
the requirement that all interrogations be taped because he was afraid that both
police and suspects would act differently, that the positive dynamics established
through rapport-building would be diminished, and that generally the presence of
recording equipment would inhibit interrogations. His view is slowly changing
as he sees the results of taping. While not fully convinced, the detectives agree
that taping interrogations offers numerous benefits, but they regard videotaping
as a wholly different matter. Most agree that videotaping would assist training
and review, and Coleman says that certain basic tenets of interrogation could be
taught more easily through the videotaping of interrogations.
At the same time, Coleman worries that because under Massachusetts law the
suspect would have to be informed that he is being videotaped, the interrogation
would be inhibited, less rapport would be established, and less information and
fewer confessions would be obtained. Part of the worry, especially when dealing
with gang members and similar criminals, is that because the tapes are discoverable,
suspects will be less likely to talk for fear that the tape might get back to the street,
where retaliation for cooperating with the police has spiked in recent years across
the country. Nonetheless, the detectives recognize that, in general, other police
departments and agencies have had positive experiences with the videotapes, and
see them as the inevitable next stage in interrogation requirements.

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Section 9. Case Study of One Detective588
Lieutenant Albert F. Pierce, Jr., currently with the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology (MIT) Police Department and formerly with the Massachusetts
Metropolitan Police and the Massachusetts State Police, reports a similar history.
Pierce has been a police officer since 1978, working in various units and task
forces on violent crimes, white collar offenses, homicides, and more. Most of
his career has been spent in one capacity or another as part of the Massachusetts
State Police, though he spent a significant portion of his time working on special
assignment with the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. Although he
has taken classes all over the country on various policing techniques, including
interrogation, the Massachusetts State Police Department does not seem to have
any type of comprehensive training in interrogation techniques. Some in-service
training exists, though this is provided mostly by outside experts (e.g., from the
Reid School) brought in to lecture, and once in a while by more senior members
of the department. The basic Police Academy training provided little, if any,
information on interrogation techniques, although, as Pierce notes, this is because
most police officers are not involved in conducting interrogations.
Instead, like most other law enforcement officials, Pierce reports that he
learned most interrogation techniques on the job. Pierce also notes that all of the
classes in the world are not nearly as useful as the skills learned in the field. His
opinion should not be taken lightly, as he has participated in various interrogation
training programs, including those provided by the Reid School and the New
Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts State Police Departments, as well as various
national academies. According to Pierce, if a young detective is lucky enough to
be partnered with an experienced, successful mentor, that mentor will be the most
useful source of interrogation training. As a corollary, one must assume that if the
partner is not helpful or is inexperienced, young detectives will have to learn the
techniques on their own. At the same time, the first thing Pierce did when he took
over the MIT Police Department was send all of the detectives to the Reid School
for what he referred to as Interview and Interrogation 101.
Echoing the literature, Pierce argues that it takes very special skills to be
a good interviewer/interrogator. Most important among the characteristics of a
good interrogator are a true liking of people, an ability to get along with people
of all backgrounds, comfort in talking to people, and knowledge of how to do it.
In addition, anyone who wants to be a successful interrogator needs to be a good
actor: to convey sympathy, empathy, and other emotions that the interrogator does
not really feel. As a young detective, Pierce would often just sit outside or in bars
with his partner and observe and speak with people so that he could learn these
skills and improve on whatever innate abilities he already possessed. He reports
that this was one of the most useful techniques he found to build up knowledge of
how people act and react in various settings. Finally, Pierce notes that the ability
588
Unless otherwise referenced, the information in this section is derived from an interview with
Lieutenant Albert F. Pierce Jr. of the MIT Police Department, formerly of the Massachusetts State
Police, on 5 April 2005.

218

to know oneself and one’s limits cannot be overstated; successful interrogators
must have the ability to restrain their own egos and take themselves out of a
situation or interrogation that they cannot handle.
Pierce argues that interrogation techniques must be individualized for both
the interrogator and the suspect and are very case-specific. Some of the variables
he identified included the crime committed, the suspect’s education level — both
formal and within the judicial system — the suspect’s economic and social status,
etc. At the same time, no matter with whom one is dealing or what crime the
person committed, the single most important aspect of the interrogation, according
to Pierce, is to establish rapport and the appearance of friendship. This is done
mainly to create an environment conducive to a successful interrogation, but also
to maintain the suspect’s constitutional rights while minimizing the likelihood
that the suspect will ask for an attorney.
The typical interrogation in which Pierce is involved proceeds as follows:
1.

Conduct the pre-interrogation investigation — gather as much information
as possible about the suspect, the crime scene, the victim, etc.

2.

Go through Miranda and other procedural requirements.

3.

Build rapport:
a.

Leave the suspect alone in a room and observe for signs of
nervousness, fear, etc., through a two-way mirror or a window
in the door to the room.

b. Approach with only a few detectives.
Pierce reports no standard procedure, but never more
than three, and usually two so that one can do the
questioning and another can take notes.
c.

Begin talking, offer a smoke, food, and/or drink. Never begin
by “going for the throat” with a direct accusation or attempt to
overwhelm with evidence.

d. Have a two-way conversation and get to a comfort level with
the suspect.
e.

Only at this point move to discussion about the crime.

Once Pierce moves into harder questioning of the suspect, the procedure seems
to break down to some degree in that there is no one path to follow. Generally, openended questions are used to keep suspects talking, to keep them off guard, and to
avoid conveying any information to them. Depending on the suspect, themes such
as those discussed in the Reid Technique (minimization, rationalization, etc.) may
be appropriate. All, however, require sympathy and empathy according to Pierce,
who indicates that he may be using theme development without being consciously
aware of it. Indeed, he reports that the most successful interrogators can make

219

the suspect believe that the interrogator understands how the suspect feels about
things, which is exactly the goal of Reid’s theme development.
Pierce believes quite strongly that a good interrogator can sense deception.
There are so-called “body-language schools” that teach techniques that Pierce
finds effective. More importantly, however, is the ability simply to read people,
and he argues that in real-world situations it is easy to pick up obvious signals that
a suspect is lying if one has good people skills. At the same time, he believes it is
sometimes useful for an interrogator to use trickery and deceit, such as telling the
suspect that the authorities have evidence, phone records, witnesses, or statements
that do not really exist. While one must be careful in using this technique, Pierce
says that it is highly successful when appropriately used. Nonetheless, he reports
that he never lies about the consequences of confession and tries to avoid the
subject altogether, instead telling the suspect that he is just the fact-finder who
writes the story, and that what happens to the suspect is in the hands of the court.
Until the recent SJC decision, the Massachusetts State Police did not use
electronic recording of any kind. Pierce contends that if they had done so they
would have had easier, smoother, and more successful results in court (i.e.,
convictions). While noting that the presence of the recording devices does affect
the privacy of the interrogation, Pierce argues that the benefits outweigh the costs.
Like Coleman, he finds it imperative that the detective be able to explain each
technique used through the interrogation so that it does not appear overly coercive
to a court or jury. In addition, he believes that recording the interrogations would
aid in training; one of his chief complaints about the training he received is that
it involved too much sitting in the classroom listening to lectures and not enough
observation and role-playing.

Section 10. Interrogation Practices in Other Countries
Interrogation in Great Britain
General Background
Until the early 1990s, there was no national training on interrogation offered
to British police officers.589 Though the first and most recognized interrogation
manual produced in Britain590 was heavily influenced by the Reid Technique, it did
not meet with much enthusiasm and does not appear to have had much impact on
police training and practice.591 According to Gudjonsson, the implicit rejection of
Reid-based approaches to interrogation in Britain might be due to a combination
of factors, including judicial decisions in cases involving oppressive police
interrogation, research into false confessions and psychological vulnerability, and
changes in police practice following the introduction of the Police and Criminal
Evidence Act of 1984 (PACE) and the Codes of Practice for police officers, which

589

Gudjonsson, see note 111, p. 38.
J. Walkley, Police Interrogation: A Handbook for Investigators (London: Police Review
Publication, 1987).
591
Gudjonsson, see note 110, p. 52.
590

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reduced the scope of coercive questioning and barred the use of deception, trickery,
and psychological manipulation in interrogation.592
Currently, Britain has a set of national guidelines on interviewing both
witnesses and suspects, composed of five distinct parts (corresponding to the
acronym “PEACE”):
Preparation and Planning: Interviewers are taught to properly prepare
and plan for the interview and formulate aims and objectives.
Engage and Explain: Rapport is established with the subject, and officers
engage the person in conversation.
Account: Officers are taught two methods of eliciting an account from
the interviewee:
•

Cognitive Interview: used with cooperative suspects and witnesses.

•

Conversation Management: recommended when cooperation is
insufficient for the cognitive interview techniques to work.

Closure: The officer summarizes the main points from the interview and
provides the suspect with the opportunity to correct or add information.
Evaluate: Once the interview is finished, the information gathered must
be evaluated in the context of its impact on the investigation.593
The PEACE approach was based on the idea of providing officers with an
ethical foundation for police questioning.594 It focuses on information gathering
rather than obtaining confessions, and it relies on non-coercive interviewing
and accurate recording of the interview to achieve its goals.595 Officers adopting
“oppressive” questioning would be in breach of the national guidelines, and would
presumably find judges less willing to admit into evidence statements obtained
through those means.596
It is useful to note that an overwhelming proportion of scholarship and
research on interrogation comes from Great Britain. This is mostly because PACE
requires that all interrogations conducted in Great Britain be video-recorded.
These recordings, in turn, allow for more research and study opportunities.
Detective Superintendent Colin Sturgeon: A Practitioner’s Perspective597
Detective Superintendent Sturgeon of the Police Service of Northern Ireland
has vast experience with interrogations both in typical law enforcement and
terrorism-related investigations. During our conversation, he offered a historical

592

Id.
Id., p. 53.
594
Id.
595
Id., p. 54.
596
Id.
597
The information in this section is derived from a discussion with Detective Superintendent
Colin Sturgeon of the Police Service of Northern Ireland during his spring 2005 visit to Harvard Law
School.
593

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perspective of interrogation in the context of terrorist investigations in Northern
Ireland, which included reference to past use of interrogation tactics such as
sensory deprivation, rigorous exercise, withholding of food and water, and
inducing cramps through prolonged stances in certain positions. Superintendent
Sturgeon noted that although these techniques proved quite successful in gaining
intelligence they also alienated a vast proportion of the population and gave
terrorists a broader base of support from which to operate. Eventually, outrage
about these coercive interrogation techniques led to significant legal reforms in
the shape of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) and the relevant Codes
of Practice.
As mentioned above, PACE and its Codes of Conduct forbid interrogators
to deceive subjects or to employ any sort of trickery to gain information from
them. Similarly, interrogators may not use psychological ploys common to the
Reid Technique, such as rationalization, projection, and minimization. In general,
the interrogator may not offer or suggest any reason to a suspect as to why he/
she should confess, but may tell a suspect that his or her cooperation would be
formally made known to the judge. It is relevant to note that these restrictions on
interrogation tactics apply with equal force to ordinary criminal investigations
and terrorism-related investigations.
Superintendent Sturgeon noted that these legal restrictions on interrogation
have made it impossible to secure a confession or incriminating admission from
a suspect. In fact, he went so far as to say that he cannot recall ever obtaining a
confession as a product of interrogation. Even though British law has attempted
to bridge this gap by eliminating the right of a suspect to remain quiet during
interrogation by allowing a judge to infer guilt from the suspect’s silence, Sturgeon
noted that judges rarely, if ever, exercise this discretion against suspects.
As a consequence of the legal restrictions imposed on interrogators in Britain
and their resultant inability to garner confessions, interrogations are now seen as
another step in the investigation process. According to Superintendent Sturgeon,
the PEACE method of interrogation described above conforms well to the view of
interrogations as a step in a broader investigation, and thus transforms the goal of
interrogation from obtaining confessions to securing information to advance the
investigation. In this context, Sturgeon highlighted the importance of thorough
preparation prior to beginning the interrogation. This preparation includes an
interview coordinator, whose job it is to read every document relevant to the
person to be interrogated and to outline the topics that the interrogation should
cover. The interrogation itself is conducted by two interrogators: the “lead,” who
is responsible for asking the questions, and the “sweeper,” who covers anything
left out by the lead. Sturgeon made clear that the Engage and Explain portion of
the PEACE method relies heavily on rapport, which he described as being based
on the concepts of reciprocity and respect. This last point is significant in that
Superintendent Sturgeon sees the process of establishing rapport not as an attempt
to engage in insincere chit-chat with a suspect, but as an opportunity to treat him
or her humanely and with respect so as to foster some sense of reciprocity in the
encounter.

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Finally, Sturgeon mentioned that although videotaping interrogations in
Britain has drastically reduced the number of complaints filed by subjects against
interrogators, some suspects are more reluctant than others to talk when being
recorded. However, British law allows for recorders to be turned off at the
suspect’s request.

Section 11. Videotaping Interrogations: The Law and
Practice
Law enforcement officials around the country are currently debating whether
or not videotaping of custodial interrogations should be required. Electronic
recording of interviews and interrogations, when feasible, has been required by
judicial opinion in Alaska since 1985598 and in Minnesota since 1994,599 although
neither specifies videotaping. Illinois recently passed a statute requiring electronic
recording, when feasible, of all custodial interrogations of suspects,600 a District
of Columbia statute requires it for all suspects in violent or dangerous crimes,601
and a Maine statute requires electronic recording of interrogations for serious
crimes.602 The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts recently ruled that while
it would not require electronic recordings of interrogations, where such recording
did not take place “the defendant is entitled (on request) to a jury instruction
advising that the State’s highest court has expressed a preference that such
interrogations be recorded whenever practicable, and cautioning the jury that,
because of the absence of any recording of the interrogation in the case before
them, they should weigh evidence of the defendant’s alleged statement with
great caution and care.”603 As noted previously, this has led to all interrogations
conducted in Massachusetts being recorded whenever feasible.604 Various similar
legislative proposals are currently or have previously been before legislatures
around the country, including in New York City, Maryland, Connecticut, Oregon,
and Missouri.605
Electronic recording of interviews is quite common in other countries. As
noted, Great Britain has required it since 1984.606 Australian police must taperecord their interrogations where feasible, and in federal prosecutions, where
a contemporaneous recording cannot be made, the law requires an electronic

598

Stephan v. State, 711 P.2d 1156 (Alaska.1985).
State v. Scales, 518 N.W. 2d 587 (Minn.1994).
600
725 ILCS 5 § 103-2.1, effective 18 July 2005.
601
D.C. ST § 5-133.20, effective 4 April 2003.
602
Maine LD 891.
603
Commonwealth v. DiGiambattista, 442 Mass. 423, 447-48 (2004).
604
Interview with Boston Police Department Deputy Superintendent Dan Coleman, in Boston, MA
(11 March 2005) [hereinafter Coleman Interview].
605
See Report on the Electronic Recording of Police Interrogations, submitted jointly by the
American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section and the New York County Lawyers’ Association,
(2002), 9, at http://www.reid.com/pdfs/NYlegalarticleonvideotaping.pdf, for a non-updated list, site
access 22 April 2005) [hereinafter Report]
606
Police and Criminal Evidence Act of 1984.
599

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recording of the statement’s being read to the suspect, with the suspect’s being
given an opportunity to refute anything in the written account.607
A 1993 study, conducted before many of the statutes previously mentioned
were adopted, found that only 16% of police agencies in the United States overall,
and one-third in jurisdictions with populations over 50,000, videotaped interviews,
interrogations, and confessions, and that the most common circumstance in which
a videotape was made was following the confession.608 “During this process, the
investigator would recap the interrogation in the presence of the suspect and
continue with the formal confession being recorded.”609 This study reported
that 82% of respondents said that the number of defense claims of improper
interrogation techniques remained the same or decreased once videotaping
of confessions began.610 At the same time, 60% of respondents “reported no
significant difference between a suspect’s willingness to tell the truth whether or
not the conversation was videotaped.”611 Inbau et al. argue, however, that these
results are meaningless because the study did not include data on whether the
agencies videotaped the entire interrogation or only the confession that resulted
after a successful interrogation conducted in a private setting.612
Anecdotal evidence suggests that, since the 1993 study, many police agencies
around the country have adopted videotaping procedures, either because it is
required by local ordinances or through voluntary adoption programs.613 Fort
Lauderdale, Miami, Denver, Tulsa, San Diego, Kankakee County, and DuPage
County are among the many localities that have begun videotaping interrogations.614
Most of these agencies seem to report positive experiences with the procedure.615
Indeed, a 2004 study of 238 police and sheriff’s departments that voluntarily
videotaped interrogations found that “[v]irtually every officer with whom [the
authors of the report on the study] spoke, having given custodial recordings a try,
was enthusiastically in favor of the practice.”616 Noted benefits included reduced
defense motions to suppress statements, more guilty pleas, better evidence for
use at trial, increased public confidence, and use as an interrogation-technique
teaching tool for detectives.617 In addition, the study found that recording did not
inhibit rapport-building and did not result in suspects’ refusing to cooperate or

607
See Australia’s Third Report under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
March 1987 – December 1995, Art. 14 Par. 816.
608
Inbau, see note 109, 393-395, and Report, 6, both citing W. Geller, Videotaping Interrogations
and Confessions, National Institute of Justice Research in Brief (March 1993).
609
Inbau, see note 109, p. 395.
610
Id., p. 394.
611
Id., citing W. Geller.
612
Id., p. 394.
613
Coleman Interview; see also; “Police to Tape Suspects’ ‘Quizzings,’” South Florida Sun Sentinel,
1 February 2003, 1B; “Will the Senate seek justice?,” Chicago Tribune, Editorial, 4 March 2003, 12.
614
“Will the Senate seek justice?,” 12.
615
Id.
616
Thomas P. Sullivan, Police Experiences with Recording Custodial Interrogations, presented by
Northwestern School of Law’s Center on Wrongful Convictions, Summer 2004, 6, at http://www.law.
northwestern.edu/depts/clinic/wrongful/documents/SullivanReport.pdf, accessed 4 March 2005.
617
Id., 6-12, p. 16

224

confess at lower rates than those not recorded, whether or not the suspects were
aware of the videotaping.618
The authors of the Reid Technique, however, continue to argue that guilty
suspects are less likely to tell the truth and/or confess if they are electronically
recorded.619 In addition, they believe that videotaping interrogations would
ultimately harm investigations and especially prosecutions.620 They contend
that unless the videotaping can be done surreptitiously (which it cannot in
states that require two-party consent for electronic recording), the presence of
a video recording device, or simply the knowledge that the session was being
taped, would undermine the sense of privacy that is a prerequisite to a successful
Reid Technique interrogation.621 They point to a study by one of the authors,
who surveyed investigators in Alaska and Minnesota and found that when the
recording device was never visible the investigators obtained an 82% confession
rate as opposed to a 43% rate when the device was visible.622 This, they argue, is
the foremost reason not to require videotaping of interrogations.
Inbau et al. acknowledge that videotaping interrogations may help reduce
doubts as to the trustworthiness or voluntariness of the confession, help jog
the investigator’s memory while testifying, and defend against allegations
of improper interrogation tactics.623 They do not mention the possibility that
videotaping will help in training interrogators. Ultimately, the authors argue that
the costs of videotaping outweigh the benefits. They point to the possibility of
“numerous occurrences where a defense expert would offer the opinion that, based
on analysis of the videotaped interrogation, the defendant’s will appeared to be
overcome, or that in the defendant’s mind he perceived a promise of leniency or a
threat to his well-being (even though none was stated).”624 They also argue that a
requirement for videotaping is too great a burden for police and prosecutors, who
already have a difficult time maintaining the integrity of all pieces of evidence.
Defense attorneys could unfairly exploit the possibilities of the electronic device
failing, portions of the recording fading or being lost due to mechanical failure,
gaps because of the need to change a tape, the loss of the tape, inadvertent erasure
of the tape, or the unavailability of electronic recording in a particular location to
place doubts about the entire circumstances surrounding the interrogation in the
minds of the judge and jury.625
Aubry, however, writes unequivocally that a “requirement for the interrogation
room [is] an adequate and efficient sound and tape recording system.”626 He
continues: “motion picture records…are exceedingly valuable” because they

618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626

Id., 19-20
Inbau, see note 109, p. 397.
Id., p. 393-397.
Id., p. 397.
Id., n.23
Id., p. 394.
Id., p. 396.
Id., p. 396-397.
Aubry and Caputo, see note 406, p. 71.

225

objectively show what happened during the interrogation.627 Such recordings,
Aubry argues, “should definitely be made of the entire interrogation procedure,
if for no other reason than to demonstrate conclusively that the confession was
secured in conformity with legal safeguards.”628 He mentions no downside
to the recording of interrogations, though he does suggest that the recording
devices be hidden, perhaps indicating he would agree with some of Inbau et al.’s
concerns if the suspect were made aware that he is being recorded. Similarly, the
American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section and the New York County
Lawyers’ Association argue that it is “time the practice of videotaping complete
interrogations is mandated in all state and federal jurisdictions.”629 Concerns about
false confession frame their argument: worries that as interrogators convince a
suspect that confession is rational and appropriate they may convince the innocent
individual to confess as well.630
Despite Inbau et al.’s arguments, the videotaping of interrogations is coming
to be seen as a positive development by both law enforcement and the defense
bar. The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers supports the practice
as “a simple procedure that would deter human rights violations, reduce the
risk of wrongful convictions due to false confessions, and greatly enhance the
truth-seeking process by resolving factual disputes concerning interrogation.”631
Law enforcement personnel — even those who initially opposed taping — are
beginning to recognize it as an effective means of countering false allegations of
misconduct and confirming the testimony of the police officers at a time when
juries have increasing mistrust of police testimony.632 They also see the tapes as
an important training tool in three respects: first, they allow supervisors to review
and give feedback on the interrogations; second, they enable the individuals
conducting the interrogations to critique themselves; and third, because the tapes
will be shown to juries, the interrogators will have to be able to explain — and
thus better understand — the techniques they use to elicit confessions (e.g., theme
development, presentation of alternative questions, etc.).633

Section 12. Summary: Interrogation Literature vs. Law
Enforcement Practice
Like the practical literature on which it is based, the interrogation training
provided by the U.S. law enforcement organizations consulted for this paper
generally fails to incorporate the factors that, according to empirical research,
might affect a suspect’s willingness to confess, and provides little or no training

627

Id., p. 72.
Id.
629
Report, p. 2.
630
Report, p. 3-4.
631
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, NACDL Federal Legislative Priorities 2004, at http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/Legislation/Priorities?opendocument, accessed 16 April
2005.
632
Coleman Interview.
633
Id.
628

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variation for different types of suspects. While all agencies underscored the
general caution that no single interrogation technique works with every suspect,
and indeed that every suspect is different, they provide little guidance on how
to adjust one’s interrogation techniques for suspects of different ages, cultures,
ethnicities, and criminal history, or for crimes of greater seriousness or cases for
which the interrogator has stronger evidence. The only confession factor that most
agencies seemed to focus on is length of the interrogation. Consistent with Leo’s
empirical study, discussed above, the FBI training literature and the instructors at
the FBI Academy noted that the length of interrogation was a determinative factor
in obtaining a confession or incriminating information from the suspect.
Similarly, both FLETC and the FBI take account of the seriousness of the
offense and the strength of the evidence against the suspect in their training, if
indirectly. As noted, these two factors appear to be statistically significant in
predicting the likelihood of a confession. Like the Reid Technique upon which
they draw so heavily, FBI and FLETC training make use of theme development
based on rationalization, projection, and minimization. These tactics, in turn,
center on manipulating the suspects’ perception of the seriousness of the crime
they have committed. In addition, FBI and FLETC rely heavily on presentation
of the evidence to convince the suspect that denial is futile and there is no other
option but to confess. Consequently, the stronger the evidence, the more effective
this FBI and FLETC interrogation step will be. These modifications to the Reid
Technique notwithstanding, the agencies do not, for the most part, offer specific
techniques that the interrogator should adjust if the crime is more or less serious,
or the evidence stronger or weaker; they give few, if any, explicit prescriptions on
how to use these factors to elicit a confession in different situations.
As noted, those officers and agents who do receive some interrogation
training learn tactics that closely track those advocated in most of the literature.
The emphasis in all programs is on investigating the case thoroughly prior to
interrogation, projecting an air of confidence and fairness, and building some
sort of rapport with the suspect. However, practice diverges from the literature
in two seminal respects: interrogator qualifications and, in the case of the FBI
and FLETC, the importance of confronting the suspect with the evidence against
him.
Although the literature recommends that only highly skilled, motivated,
educated, and specialized individuals be chosen as interrogators, the reality is
that, for the most part, interrogations are conducted by law enforcement personnel
of widely divergent educations and experience levels. Our research uncovered
no U.S. law enforcement agencies or departments that have a dedicated cadre of
interrogators to use in their counterterrorism investigations. Interrogators in U.S.
law enforcement agencies and departments are not required to have any specialized
training or education beyond that required to fulfill the general requirements of
their respective training courses. In some of the federal agencies, interrogations
are conducted by whichever team of agents happens to be investigating the
case, regardless of experience or expertise. In police departments it appears that
interrogations are conducted by detectives, who are by definition more experienced,

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but who do not necessarily have any specialized interrogation training. It thus
appears that U.S. law enforcement does not perceive interrogation as a specialty,
but instead as one of the many skills required by a general investigator’s job.
Both the FBI and FLETC teach trainees to present suspects directly with
the evidence linking them to the crime. The literature generally shies away
from such an approach. Although Reid’s Step 1 involves direct, confrontational
accusation, it does not appear to advocate the exhaustive presentation of evidence
taught by the FBI and FLETC. However, law enforcement personnel repeatedly
observed that unless the authorities present the evidence in a comprehensive way,
more sophisticated suspects will have no reason to confess. In an argument that
appears a logical extension of Reid, they noted that theme presentation is useless
unless the suspects truly believe that they will be prosecuted and convicted. The
Boston Police Department’s experience with gang members seems to be similar,
especially because detectives note the lack of guilt or remorse among suspects.
At the same time, the literature does suggest that with this type of more rational
(as opposed to emotional) suspect, a straightforward presentation is appropriate.
However, as opposed to the qualified application of this technique advocated in
the literature, FBI and FLETC training prescribes the presentation of evidence to
all suspects, regardless of their personality traits.
The reliance on presentation of evidence by law enforcement personnel
points to an underlying factor in Reid and its variations that no one — either
in the literature or among those conducting interrogations — seems to discuss
directly: fear. Although the literature, the training, and the discussions with law
enforcement personnel heavily emphasize rapport-building as the main tool for
interrogators, it appears that without some underlying fear interrogations will
rarely succeed. It seems that, in practice, law enforcement personnel rely on fear
of prosecution and conviction as the major motivator for a confession. Perhaps this
is not mentioned explicitly because it is such a basic assumption, but it is worth
noting that rapport-building alone, at least in the opinion of many interrogation
trainers, does not seem to convince suspects to confess unless they have some
underlying fear of the consequences of refusal to cooperate.
Because of its importance both in the literature and in practice, rapport-building
should be carefully examined for what it is and what it is not. Inexperienced
trainees, and those who only read the classic texts, seem to understand rapportbuilding as an attempt to establish what almost constitutes a friendship between
interrogator and suspect. This view encourages chit-chat and small talk in essence
to build a relationship based on good will. The rapport-building encouraged by
experienced practitioners is more often based on respect for the interrogator and
on professionalism. Hence the Boston homicide investigators dress in suits and
shake hands with the suspects, and FBI instructors state that they try to be one
of the few decent people with whom the suspect has interacted in his lifetime. In
practice, attempts to build rapport based on friendship and good will are often
perceived as forced and false, and, thus, it is more useful simply to treat the suspect
as an equal human being. Some texts note that many suspects will be immediately

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suspicious of an overly friendly investigator, but will be pleasantly surprised by
the respectful, professional interrogator who does not shout at or insult them.
Another important point of tension between literature and practice lies in the
concept of the purported goal of an interrogation. While the practical literature
counsels against entering an interrogation with the sole purpose of obtaining a
confession — advice that is echoed by instructors during training — most of
the psychological studies related to interrogations focus on confession rates and
confession-inducing factors. The individual interrogation techniques and training
programs implicitly reinforce this focus by urging prolonged interrogations
and psychological ploys meant to undo deception and obtain a confession.
Although the literature occasionally refers to incriminating statements, and law
enforcement officers often referred to the value of obtaining a detailed lie through
an interrogation, most attention focuses on obtaining a detailed confession from a
suspect to bolster the chances of a future conviction.
Currently, those law enforcement agencies and departments that teach
interrogation techniques train their officers and agents in tactics that have not been
proven successful through any empirical studies. Neither the FBI nor FLETC has
ever studied the efficacy of its techniques in garnering confessions or incriminating
statements. Generally the agencies use variations of the Reid Technique, or
subcontract the training to the Reid School or its spin-off, Wicklander-Zulawski.
Although the Reid School claims an 80% confession rate for those who use its
techniques, no independent, empirical study has confirmed those numbers. Given
the dearth of empirical evidence to support the agencies’ training and techniques,
it seems that reliance on them is based mostly on the reputation of the Reid
approach and on anecdotal evidence of its utility. Another explanation might be
the institutional inertia characteristic of most large government agencies such as
the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies.
As noted, one reason why only anecdotal information exists on the efficacy
of the Reid Technique and its variations is because very little, if any, review of
actual interrogations is conducted in the field in the United States. As discussed
in Section 11, unlike in Britain, most U.S. interrogations are still not videotaped.
Even in the minority of jurisdictions that now mandate electronic recording,
most law enforcement agencies use audiotapes instead of videos. Moreover, we
found no evidence that superiors systematically observe interrogations conducted
by officers and agents; instead, it appears that those personnel who initially
receive training in interrogation are then sent into the field with little direction or
supervision, and learn the majority of their skills on the job and, if they are lucky,
from more experienced officers or agents. Even the most formalized programs,
like those at the FBI and FLETC, do not follow up with their students to determine
the utility of the techniques taught or whether those techniques are actually being
used in the field. There has not even been a comprehensive attempt to gather
evidence through surveys of, or self-reports by, the interrogators and/or suspects.
At the same time, it appears that those agencies and departments that use
Reid or its variations, such as the FBI and FLETC, are a step ahead of most

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law enforcement around the country, like the Boston Police Department, which
does not train its officers and agents in interrogation techniques at all. Local
law enforcement departments do not offer the training in the police academies
because most officers will never conduct interrogations, and those who then
become detectives or other investigators are almost never required to receive
additional training in this area. Reid and other outside courses are sometimes
offered as options to those who want them, requiring the officers or agents to take
the initiative to pursue such training. Some individuals, such as Lieutenant Pierce,
take advantage of the opportunities. However, although we hypothesize (and
anecdotal evidence suggests) that the majority of investigators do not participate
in such voluntary training, there has been no empirical study to determine the
actual percentage of senior officers who are trained in interrogation techniques
through such voluntary programs. Such training may be somewhat superfluous,
however, as many senior law enforcement personnel develop and use many of the
techniques used in Reid and its variations on their own. Deputy Superintendent
Coleman argues that Reid does not offer anything that people with brains, people
skills, and some experience could not figure out on their own. He and others
note that senior investigators may not be able to identify the various steps of the
interrogation but generally use the same approaches: thorough pre-interrogation
investigation, rapport-building, and some sort of theme presentation. However,
everyone seems to know an investigator who uses ineffective techniques (e.g.,
trying to overwhelm the suspect with the evidence), which suggests that, though
intuitive to some, these tactics do not necessarily flow from pure logic.
In sum, the few law enforcement agencies consulted for this project that
provide any training on interrogation at all do so through very general programs.
Like the practical literature upon which they are based, the training programs fail
to account for, or recommend adjustments in response to, the various confessioninducing factors identified by available empirical research. The training takes a
“one-size-fits-all” approach and fails to instruct interrogators on how, or whether,
to adapt the techniques to differences in age, ethnicity, or culture of the suspect,
seriousness of the offense, or strength of the available evidence. Aside from the
dearth of nuance, there is no available evidence to evaluate whether the techniques
upon which training is based actually yield favorable results in practice. None of
the agencies we contacted had any idea of whether the training they offered was
in fact implemented by agents and, if it was, whether it worked.

PART III: RECOMMENDATIONS AND
IMPLICATIONS
FOR TERRORISM
Section 13. Recommendations for Future Research
Further theoretical and empirical independent study is needed in the following
areas:

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1.

2.
3.

4.

5.

Whether the Reid Technique and its variations currently being taught to
law enforcement personnel are effective;
- Consider the confession rate and accuracy of information obtained
through those techniques.
Whether law enforcement agents actually apply the interrogation training
they receive;
Whether particularly effective techniques and systems for elicitation of
truthful information and confessions exist in other countries;
- Compare U.S. interrogation data with data on interrogation
techniques and results in Britain, Japan, Israel, and Australia.
Whether the effectiveness and applicability of interrogation techniques
employed by U.S. law enforcement agencies, and the theories underlying
them, remain constant across cultures; and
Whether it would be feasible and effective to resort to a dedicated cadre
of specially trained interrogators as opposed, or in addition, to training
all criminal investigators on interrogation.

Such studies will be extremely difficult until U.S. law enforcement
organizations begin to videotape all of the interrogations they conduct. Clearly the
availability of videotapes would allow for feedback and constructive criticism by
superiors, thereby breaking bad habits before they take root. Similarly, videotaping
would encourage supervisors at various agencies and departments to begin more
regular observations of the interrogations conducted by their personnel so as to
offer feedback on their performance.634

Section 14. Implications for Investigation and
Prevention of Terrorism
Interrogation will likely play a seminal role in the prevention and investigation
of terrorist threats and incidents. It would therefore be useful to evaluate whether
organizations dealing with terrorism can learn anything from current interrogation
practices used by law enforcement agencies. In this context, this section raises
questions and issues to be pondered and evaluated by more experienced and
qualified individuals.
At the outset we note that, despite claiming the contrary, the available
literature on interrogations and the related training provided by law enforcement
agencies are generally geared toward obtaining a confession. In contrast to
ordinary law enforcement investigations, which are predominantly reactive and
preeminently concerned with obtaining a conviction, a preventive terrorism
investigation has the sole objective of preventing an attack, and is thus a hybrid
of intelligence collection and interrogation. Although the literature occasionally
refers to incriminating statements, and law enforcement officers often refer to
the value of obtaining a detailed lie through an interrogation, it is unclear how

634

Additional study on the effects of videotaping on the interrogations being taped would also be

useful.

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well, or whether, these aims would translate into a preventive investigation. For
example, in comparison to a law enforcement officer, an interrogator working on
a preventive investigation would most likely have less information against which
to evaluate a given lie, or even to judge whether a suspect is lying at all during the
interrogation. Consequently, this potential difference in goals must underlie any
assessment of the value of law enforcement interrogation practices in preventing
terrorism. Similarly, all current law enforcement techniques operate under the
assumption that confessions obtained must meet certain legal and evidentiary
requirements. Some adjustment might be needed in purely preventive situations
or when legal requirements are inapplicable.
It is difficult to arrive at any fixed conclusions about the applicability of law
enforcement interrogation techniques to the terrorism context because we do
not know whether they in fact are effective. As mentioned in Section 13, much
research is needed into the actual effectiveness of law enforcement interrogation
techniques, since individual agencies keep no statistics on confessions or any
data on other measures of interrogation success. Even if the techniques prove
effective, we would still have to evaluate whether they would be equally effective
in the terrorism context in particular. Although law enforcement agents with
experience in both regular law enforcement and terrorism investigations have
noted that current techniques work well in both contexts, they also recognize
that their effectiveness largely depends on having vast amounts of time to
devote to the investigation and interrogation. Thus, current law enforcement
interrogation techniques have little applicability to a ticking-bomb, or otherwise
time-constrained, investigation scenario. Additionally, other aspects endemic
to the terrorism phenomenon must be taken into account when evaluating the
relevance of law enforcement interrogation techniques to that arena. For example,
current interrogation techniques and training programs make no mention of,
or consider adjustments for, the possibility that suspects have been trained in
counter-interrogation techniques. Such training is common practice for terrorist
organizations and must be taken into account when fashioning interrogation
techniques to be used with terrorism suspects.
Another feature that might make both the literature and law enforcement
techniques difficult to adopt in the terrorism prevention context is the conspicuous
omission of any cultural adaptation. All psychological literature and interrogation
techniques seem either to ignore the potential impact of culture on the outcome of
an interrogation or to assume that it does not matter. Because the current terrorist
threat is so intricately tied to culture and religion, failing to study the impact
of those factors on the efficacy of interrogation techniques seems like a glaring
oversight. Additionally, cultural awareness and adaptation would appear to be
central elements of the rapport-building upon which the current techniques rely so
heavily. Though by no means an exhaustive list, areas for possible study include
whether culture in fact is a statistically significant predictor of the outcome of
interrogations, and, if so, whether shame-based approaches to interrogation work
better among certain cultures than fear- or guilt-based approaches. To this end,
it may be worth bringing together interrogation experts from around the world

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to discuss and exchange techniques, thereby giving everyone more appropriate
interrogation tools.
Finally, a note on interrogator training and qualifications. Although the
literature and training agencies agree that not everyone can be an effective
interrogator, the prevailing approach in practice is to train everyone, as opposed
to having a dedicated cadre of interrogators. Given the heterogeneous nature of
the group of people who become law enforcement agents, the few agencies that
offer any training do so at a basic and general level, catering to the lowest common
denominator. A different approach — employing a group of highly educated and
specially trained interrogators in a counterterrorism squad and entrusting them
with terrorism-related interrogations — would not be unprecedented in U.S. law
enforcement. Many police departments and federal law enforcement agencies
have highly trained and dedicated personnel whose sole, or primary, responsibility
is to act as hostage negotiators during a hostage crisis. Given the psychological
and behavioral complexity of interrogations in general, and the sensitivity of
terrorism-related interrogations in particular, we think it prudent to evaluate the
possibility of adopting such a model and insist on better trained and dedicated
interrogators.

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7
Barriers to Success:
Critical Challenges in Developing a New
Educing Information Paradigm
Steven M. Kleinman, M.S.
February 2006
The views expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not reflect the
official policy or position of the Department of Defense or the U.S. Government.

Abstract
The art of educing information comprises both process and content. Depending upon the circumstances, the former may unfold as inherently simple or incredibly complex (e.g., the interrogation of a cooperative, reliable
source or of a source who is resistant and deceptive), while the latter may
be surprisingly easy or agonizingly difficult (e.g., an interrogation that focuses on the location of a terrorist training camp or one that involves the
deconstruction of a complex international financial network). Given the
broad spectrum of possibilities within just these two variables, the possible
permutations in outcome are essentially infinite. As a result, identifying
the essential barriers to success can be an exceptionally vexing challenge.

Introduction
All intelligence products must be based on data that have
been evaluated for technical error, misperception, and hostile
efforts to deceive.635
A preliminary examination of the challenges inherent in developing and
managing an effective program for educing information (EI) identifies a daunting
array of barriers to success. However, systematic examination of these barriers to
educing information from uncooperative sources shows that they bear reduction
to three general categories:
1.

Linguistic/Cultural Barriers to Success

2.

Scientific/Technical/Subject Matter Barriers to Success

3.

Interpersonal/Intrapersonal Barriers to Success

635
Captain William S. Brei, USAF, Getting Intelligence Right: The Power of Logical Procedure,
Joint Military Intelligence College Occasional Paper Number Two, Washington, DC, 1996, 9.

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Linguistic/Cultural Barriers
Words perform two primary functions: they express and they interpret. Words
are the packets of information we use to transfer ideas, feelings, and facts to
others. To borrow from the lexicon of information technology, “expression is the
push function of communications.” At the same time, words shape an individual’s
perceptions of the external world. In the pull mode of communications, they
serve as the data points upon which an internal map is generated. While these
maps appear very real — and very accurate — to an individual, as the product of
interpretation they may reflect only a partially correct representation of a given
experience.
Just as an individual with a limited vocabulary might experience profound
challenges in expressing themselves and interpreting the rich world around
them, a similar phenomenon often occurs in the context of an interrogation. An
intelligence officer constrained by the inability to effectively express (i.e., pose
questions) and interpret (i.e., understand the source’s responses) is likely to be
ineffective in exploring the intelligence potential of a given source. This is, in
sum, the linguistic barrier to success. While reasonably simple in concept, it can
cast an insidious shadow across all EI activities.
EI operations, by definition, are uniquely language intensive. It is through
words that the interrogator explores a source’s knowledgeability and the nature of
any resistance; it is through words that the source reveals scope of knowledge as
well as the logic and methods of a resistance posture; and it is through words that
the interrogator seeks to persuade the source and elicit cooperation. Clearly, such
a complex and dynamic exchange cannot be effectively accomplished through
a barrier of limited language skills. For the United States, which continues to
struggle with a significant shortfall in its foreign language capability, this barrier
can be significant.
The U.S. Foreign Language Gap
The U.S. government has established a relatively straightforward means
of evaluating levels of foreign language proficiency. The scale currently in use
ranges from a value of 1, termed “Elementary” (“sufficient capability to satisfy
basic survival needs and minimum courtesy and travel requirements”) to a value
of 5, termed “Functionally Native” (“able to use the language at a functional level
equivalent to a highly articulate, well-educated native speaker”).636 It is important
to note that this scale reflects an exponential rather than an incremental increase
in proficiency. U.S. government research has demonstrated, for example, that a
Level 3 speaker could perform as much as four times more productively than a
speaker at Level 2.637

636

Technically, the scale begins at “0” (“no measurable skill).
U.S. General Accounting Office, Foreign Languages: Human Capital Approach Needed to
Correct Staffing and Proficiency Shortfalls (Washington, DC: GPO, January 2002), 5. Cited hereafter
as GAO, Foreign Languages.
637

236

Bringing a beginning student to the needed levels of operational proficiency
requires considerable time. With respect to challenging languages such as Arabic,
the Department of Defense projects that at least a year of training is required to
bring the student to Level 2 on the proficiency scale, termed “Limited Working”
capability (“sufficient capability to meet routine social demands and limited job
requirements; can deal with concrete topics in past, present, and future tense”).
Given the exponential nature of this proficiency scale, it should come as no
surprise that substantial training and field experience are necessary for the student
to progress to higher levels of proficiency.
To support EI operations adequately, a linguist-interrogator or an interpreter
must be able to function at Level 4 — “Advanced Professional” (“able to use the
language fluently and accurately on all levels normally pertinent to professional
needs; has range of language skills necessary for persuasion, negotiation, and
counseling”).638 How quickly might U.S. foreign language training centers produce
a functional linguist of this quality? According to Dr. Richard Brecht, Director of
the National Foreign Language Center, a student would require approximately
6,000 hours of study to reach Level 3 or 4 proficiency in Arabic — obviously a
relevant strategic language in the current war on terror.639
In recent years, the National Security Agency (NSA) changed its longstanding policy on the competence expected of its linguists. To fulfill the NSA’s
operational responsibilities, linguists must attain a Level 3 or 4. As noted above,
this is a significant qualitative advance from the previously acceptable proficiency
of Level 2. In a similar vein, the Central Intelligence Agency has expressed the need
for interpreters to function at Level 4 (or higher), specifically to “understand the
intricacies of vernacular speech: colloquialisms, slang, and multiple dialects.”640
Linguist-Interrogators vs. the Use of Interpreters
To overcome the linguistic barrier to success, an interrogator must either
possess near-native-level mastery of the source’s language or be aided by an
interpreter with the requisite level of ability. While the former would present the
most attractive option under ideal circumstances, it may not be possible, given
real-world constraints. Identifying the best approach in this critical area remains
a major challenge in planning for the training of interrogators to meet future
strategic requirements.
The set of countries, organizations, and personalities that may present
substantial threats to U.S. national security interests is geographically — and
linguistically — diverse. Given the complexity involved in educing information
from uncooperative sources and the time-intensive nature of foreign language
training outlined above, the difficulty of developing (through both training and
638

GAO, Foreign Language, 5.
Richard Brecht, Ph.D., “The Language Crisis in the War on Terror,”
address to the Eisenhower Institute, Washington, DC, 24 October 2002, URL:
http://www.eisenhowerinstitute.org/programs/democracy/homelandsecurity/Whitman4report.pdf,
accessed 15 November 2005. Cited hereafter as Brecht, 2002 Eisenhower Institute presentation.
640
Brecht, 2002 Eisenhower Institute presentation.
639

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field experience) the professional skills necessary to effectively manage highvalue targets and achieve sufficient operational proficiency in a foreign language
cannot be overstated.
To make matters worse, the strategic-linguistic landscape changes constantly.
In 1991, for example, the focus of U.S. strategic interests shifted dramatically from
the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe to the Middle East. Against this backdrop,
the United States simultaneously faced challenges from narco-trafficking
(requiring primarily Spanish language resources), the rise of China as a regional
power (requiring Mandarin, Cantonese, and a host of lesser-known dialects), and
a continuation of the decades-long surveillance and containment of an ultimately
nuclear-capable North Korea. This raises a critical question: Is it even possible
to train the number of operationally skilled and experienced, language-capable
interrogators needed to meet such an incredible breadth of threats? If not, what
role should interpreters play in helping to meet such a vexing challenge? The
advantages of language-qualified interrogators over the use of interpreters in the
interrogation arena are undeniable. To reap these advantages, considerable effort
must go into overcoming the disadvantages noted in the following box.

Assessing the Net Value of Using Language-Qualified
Interrogators Rather Than Interpreters
Advantages
•

More effective use of time

•

Ability to recognize and understand nuance of language (including
impact of nonverbal behaviors)

•

Avoids need to hire foreign nationals, which introduces
security concerns

•

More capable of establishing rapport with a source

•

Removes time delay inherent in interpretation that can significantly
impact the orchestration of specific approaches

•

Interrogators have greater confidence in their ability to properly
orchestrate a given approach (that is, they are able to ensure attention
to all components of verbal communication)

•

Words, tonality/emphasis, and body language are consistent
with the intended message

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Assessing the Net Value of Using Language-Qualified
Interrogators Rather Than Interpreters(contd.)
Disadvantages
•

High cost of recruiting, training, and managing a large cadre of
interrogators (exacerbated by the uncertainties over what languages
might be required to meet future operational requirements)

•

Native or near-native language capabilities — notoriously
difficult to acquire —required to support current and
anticipated national security interests

•

Frequent field exercises (designed to mirror challenging,
real-world operations) required to avoid loss of labile skill

In looking for models that could help inform U.S. EI policy in this regard, it
is difficult to find another country that faces anywhere near the same complex,
diversified, and always-changing linguistic capabilities challenge. Israel, for
example, while offering intriguing examples of best practices from an EI perspective,
has consistently faced an enemy that, with the exception of Iran, speaks Arabic.
South Korea, another country that has effectively and systematically exploited
information from captured enemy personnel, continues to face an adversary (i.e.,
North Korea) with which it shares a native language. By way of contrast, even
when considering only the Global War on Terrorism (ignoring, for the moment, the
possibility of a simultaneous major regional conflict), the United States confronts
a veritable Tower of Babel (see the list on the next page). It is imperative that the
U.S. chart a course for resolving these imposing linguistic challenges.

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Operation ENDURING FREEDOM Languages
Central Asian Languages
• Afghanistan
−Dari, Pashto, Tajik, Uzbek
• Uzbekistan
−Uzbek
• Turkmenistan
−Turkmen
• Pakistan
−Pashto, Urdu, Baluchi
• India
−Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi
Southeast Asian Languages
• Philippines
−Tagalog, Tausug, Cebuano, Illocano
• Indonesia
−Indonesian/Javanese
• Malaysia
−Malay
Source: Clifford Porter, Asymmetrical Warfare, Transformation, and Foreign
Language Capability (Ft. Leavenworth, KS: U.S. Army Command and
General Staff College, Combat Studies Institute, March 2002), 4-6. URL:
http://www-cgsc.army.mil/carl/download/csipubs/porter.pdf.
As the effort to create the next generation of EI professionals moves forward,
decisionmakers must carefully address the following fundamental questions:
•

Is it feasible to build a cadre of highly capable interrogators who also
command near-native fluency in the required languages?

•

How prepared are military and civilian government personnel systems
to train an interrogator in operational methodology, and also in a
language that has no immediate operational requirement?

•

Is it possible to develop a recognized and sufficiently compensated
career field for professional interpreters who have been specifically
trained to support interrogation operations?

Clifford Porter, Command Historian at the Defense Language Institute, begins
to address these questions as he examines options available for the U.S. military
to acquire and employ foreign language capabilities. On the basis of his extensive
experience in developing and managing Defense Department foreign language

240

programs, he offers a useful and comprehensive assessment of the advantages and
disadvantages in the current range of options (see below).641

Military-Educated Linguists
Advantages:
• Deployable U.S. military personnel
• Top Secret/Secret clearance
• Many are careerists or join other agencies after the military (e.g., FBI,
NSA)
• After career, are available for service as contractors or in Reserve
Components
Disadvantages:
• Lead time to educate new linguists to the requisite skill level
• Takes time to build experience and sustain capabilities
• Military personnel system does not adequately support the retention
of skilled linguists (i.e., compensation, promotions, etc.)

Reserve Component Linguists
Advantages:
• Deployable U.S. military personnel
• Top Secret/Secret clearance
• Many are careerists or join other agencies after the military (e.g., FBI,
NSA)
Disadvantages:
• Lead time to plan and educate new linguists: 6 to 18 months
• Takes time to build experience and sustain capabilities
• Poorly supported by personnel system
• Insufficient time allotted to maintain/enhance language skills

641
Modified from Porter, Asymmetrical Warfare, Transformation, and Foreign Language
Capability, 12–14.

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Contractors – Prior-Service Military
Advantages
• May have clearances
• Can be available on short notice for common languages
• Do not need to manage their careers
Disadvantages: Varying Quality
• Lack of quality translates into intelligence gaps
• Support affected by money, danger, etc. (may quit or strike)
• Without oversight, can be high cost and/or low quality
• Possible labor disputes: Berlitz strike in 1967 Vietnamese program
• Noncombatants and only some have clearances
• Not long-term solution for foreign language capability

Contractors – Native
Advantages:
• Available for local languages and dialects
• Do not need to manage their careers
Disadvantages:
• Lack of quality translates into intelligence gaps
• Often different political agenda and varying degrees of translation
accuracy
• Opportunity for enemy intelligence penetration
• Monopoly over information
• Can quit over money, danger, politics, etc.
• Noncombatants without clearances
• Not long-term solution for foreign language capability

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Heritage Speakers*/Civilian-Acquired Skills
Advantages:
• Available on short notice for local languages and dialects
• Shorter training pipeline
• Experience in language from birth
• Knowledge of culture
Disadvantages:
• Varying literacy levels in English and/or target language
• Lack of quality translates into intelligence gaps
• May not qualify for clearances
• Not enough volunteers of military age/fitness literate in target language
* Porter uses the term “heritage-speaker” to describe individuals whose
foreign language skills were attained through having been born and raised
abroad and/or growing up in a family where a language other than English
was spoken.

Translation Using Computer Technology
Advantages:
• Powerful tool for educated and experienced linguists
• Powerful tool for experienced educators
• Powerful potential for sustaining linguists in the field
Disadvantages:
• Machine translation is inaccurate
• Programming is time consuming and costly
• Programming fails with low-literacy languages (e.g., Pashtu
or Baluchi)
• Easily fooled by code terminology
• Cannot teach, must be used by experienced educator
Reliant on programming by experienced linguists
Cannot replace humans
Porter also notes that the U.S. has never had sufficient foreign language
capabilities to meet wartime requirements. He recommends creating a joint

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language pool, as advised by the House Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence.642
Culture + Language = Tools for Building Operational Accord
One of an interrogator’s primary objectives is to establish a level of
operational accord with a source. Operational accord can be defined as a
relationship orchestrated by an interrogator with a source that is marked by a
degree of conformity and/or affinity and is based on a sense of understanding of,
and perhaps even guarded appreciation for, respective concerns, intentions, and
desired outcomes.643
While often difficult to identify within the complex and (at least initially)
adversarial relationship between an interrogator and a source, success in gaining
meaningful information of potential intelligence value is the product of an accord:
the interrogator asks questions and the source provides constructive answers.
Operational accord reflects a calculated effort to gain and maintain the source’s
cooperation long enough to satisfy existing intelligence requirements while
effectively concealing acts on the part of the interrogator that might appear to the
source as manipulative or exploitive.644
Establishing an accord of this nature can be extraordinarily difficult, with
the process made even more problematic by the linguistic/cultural barrier. The
interrogator who seeks to create an operational accord but who harbors cultural
myopia faces a difficult path. Conversely, an interrogator whose efforts are
supplemented by what has recently been termed “cultural intelligence” will
conscientiously seek to build a bridge that systematically incorporates knowledge
of the source’s culture. Perhaps the interrogator’s version of the Golden Rule
might best be expressed as “Do unto others as they would have you do unto
them.”
In many respects, the Global War on Terror contains seeds of Huntington’s
“Clash of Civilizations.”645 Fortunately, the legacy of 20th-century conflict provides
some powerful illustrations of U.S. forces demonstrating a positive, proactive
approach to turning former enemies into allies. During World War II, the United

642
Porter, Asymmetrical Warfare, Transformation, and Foreign Language
Capability, 15.
643
Jerry Richardson, The Magic of Rapport (Capitola, CA: Meta Publications, 1987), 13.
644
The term “rapport” has been commonly used to describe an approach that employs cultural,
linguistic, and interpersonal skills to establish a non-adversarial, productive relationship between
interrogator and source. The term “operational accord” also incorporates such an approach while also
encompassing a broader array of productive, intelligence-generating relationships. Further, “rapport,”
in the context of interrogation, has been so widely misused and misunderstood in recent years that its
value as a relevant descriptive term is questionable.
645
See Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order (New
York: Simon and Schuster, 1996). Huntington’s “Clash of Civilizations” theory in international relations
posits that the primary sources of conflict today are fundamental differences in culture, exacerbated by
the processes of globalization that bring major civilizations into unprecedented contact. Huntington
divides the world’s cultures into seven civilizations: Western, Latin American, Confucian, Japanese,
Islamic, Hindu, and Slavic-Orthodox.

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States faced the original Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, and Japan. Given the vast
number of U.S. citizens who could trace their roots back to Europe, there was
a degree of familiarity — cultural and linguistic — with the European enemies.
Imperial Japan was an entirely different story. Few U.S. citizens at the time
had traveled to Japan or possessed even a superficial understanding of such a
dramatically different culture. Similarly, other than a small number of former
missionaries, businessmen, and first-generation Japanese immigrants (Issei), most
people perceived the Japanese language as essentially impenetrable. In essence,
the challenge in 1941 was not unlike that facing America in the early stages of a
new century, where an understanding of Islamic culture and the Arabic language
is as rare as understanding of Japan’s in the 1940s. Cultural-linguistic barriers to
success were skillfully surmounted through education, innovative thinking, and an
efficient exploitation of an overlooked (and widely shunned) resource: the Nisei,
or second-generation Japanese Americans.646 Cultural intelligence (although not
referred to as such at the time) proved a critical factor, a point Ulrich Straus
eloquently illustrated in The Anguish of Surrender:
In the first years of [World War II], American interrogators found
that some [Japanese] POWs remained entirely uncooperative,
sullen, and arrogant, but that even they often came around to
talking more freely when the interrogators had enough time to
spend with them. Almost invariably, POWs reacted favorably
to the good medical treatment and ample food they received.
Americans realized that interrogating an enemy with such totally
different cultural background had to be learned through trial
and error. Preconceptions had to be abandoned along the way
for new ideas that showed greater promise.647 (Italics added)
Cultural Context: Knowing the Enemy
Sun Tzu is perhaps best known for his aphorism on preparing for conflict: “If
you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred
battles.”648 Too often, it seems, such timeless concepts are forgotten upon entering
the breach…and the cost can be staggering. As revelations of the events that
had transpired at Abu Ghraib reached the public, many U.S. citizens could not
grasp the Arab world’s seemingly disproportionate emotional response to these
actions — especially the mistreatment of prisoners in a manner that carried sexual
overtones. Cultural values and traditions play no small role in determining the

646
In February 1942, pursuant to President Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9006, 120,000 U.S.
citizens of Japanese ancestry were moved to internment camps for the duration of World War II. A
small number of the thousands of Nisei volunteers for military service during the war were selected
for acceptance into the demanding U.S. Army and U.S. Navy language programs. Graduates were
subsequently assigned intelligence duties involving translation and interpretation, including support
to interrogation operations within the United States and at deployed locations throughout the
Pacific Theater.
647
Ulrich Straus, The Anguish of Surrender: Japanese POWs of World War II (Seattle, WA:
University of Washington Press, 2003), 131-32.
648
Sun Tzu, The Art of War (New York: Delacorte Press, 1983), ed. James Clavell, 2.

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words and deeds that individuals or populations consider offensive. While many
in the West were disgusted by the treatment of Iraqi detainees at Abu Ghraib,
it deeply shocked the Arab world for reasons poignantly described by George
Friedman:
Sexual humiliation of Arabs as a means of extracting information
had been practiced before — by the Ottoman Turks. As some
societies treat women who are raped, Arab society holds the
victim of sexual torture responsible for their fate. So taking
pictures of sexual humiliation was a perfect tool of blackmail.
Like a woman in nineteenth-century Sicily who had been raped,
the revelation of sexual abuse could be worse than the abuse
itself. No fingernails were pulled, but the spirit was broken. It
was an effective means of non-physical torture.649
Whether the interrogator’s objective is to establish operational accord,
psychologically intimidate, emotionally provoke, or infer guilt, the attempt will
fail if it is not orchestrated in a manner that is culturally meaningful to the target of
these efforts. One cannot “know the enemy” without understanding his culture.
Breaking The Cultural Barrier — Shaping “Logical” Appeals to the
Source’s Belief Structure
In this heading the word “logical” is enclosed in quotation marks to denote its
unique application in the context of interrogation: specifically, its use to convince
a reluctant source of the merits of an interrogator’s appeal. The logic used by the
interrogator is not constrained by convention; rather, its purpose is to present an
apparently logical explanation — or rationalization — for the source to capitulate.
An (admittedly simple) example would be as follows:
Interrogator: You have told me before — several times — that
you believe in God. And we both agree that God would condemn
acts that result in the deaths of innocent people, especially
women and children. If you truly believe in God as you have
said, then it is imperative that you tell me about Al Qaeda’s next
target so that you and I, two believers in God, can work together
to prevent the tragic deaths of so many innocent people.
Resistance instructors refer to such an approach as “circular logic” and
caution against underestimating the persuasive potential of this tactic. Employing
this ruse in the context of interrogating a follower of Islam, however, can be
problematic if not informed by the necessary cultural intelligence. Given the
important differences in beliefs about the role of God in matters both prosaic and
profound, interrogators unfamiliar with Islam must be cautious in the use of a
circular logic approach that incorporates analogous examples of, for example, right
and wrong, to persuade a source to provide information (e.g., on an impending

649
George Friedman, America’s Secret War: Inside the Hidden Worldwide Struggle Between
America and Its Enemies (New York: Doubleday, 2004), 327-8.

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attack). Contrasting cultural perspectives on the cause and effect associated with
the attack may quickly undermine the viability of the circular logic approach.
While the interrogator may try to place responsibility (and therefore guilt) on
the source, the source may perceive the potential outcome of the event as strictly
inshallah… in the hands of God.

Scientific/Technical Barriers
The rationale behind the preemptive invasion of Iraq centered on that
country’s suspected research and development programs involving weapons of
mass destruction (WMD). The actual use of nuclear, biological, and chemical
materials — from weaponizing the unstable substances to the design of effective
delivery systems — involves exceptionally sophisticated activities. As a result,
educing relevant information from sources with the scientific and technical
expertise to support such programs requires an equally sophisticated approach: a
combination of applicable technical knowledge on the part of the interrogator and
the requisite technical vocabulary (in both English and the target language) on the
part of the interrogator and/or the interpreter.
Centers of Gravity in the Global War on Terrorism
As we approach the challenge of collecting technical intelligence, we must
take into account that the nature of the information sought about an adversary
is as varied as the adversaries themselves. However, several constants remain
within this fog of war. One of these constants is the need to correctly identify and
understand the enemy’s center(s) of gravity. This was a fundamental tenet of the
strategy espoused by Carl von Clausewitz, who defined a center of gravity as “the
hub of all power and movement, on which everything depends.”650
For the purposes of this paper, it is important to note that centers of gravity
in contemporary warfare often relate to technology. Therefore, interrogators must
approach the task of educing information with sufficient technical competence to
fully explore and exploit a given source’s knowledgeability.
To use the current war on terror as an example, terrorism’s centers of gravity
include the ability to communicate, move, transport items, secure a safe haven,
obtain financial support, and develop expertise in weapons and explosives.
Examining just two of these — communications and financing — will illustrate
the importance of this subset of technical barriers to success.
The information revolution, which has spawned an unprecedented array
of options for communicating across town and across the globe, represents a
double-edged sword in prosecuting the Global War on Terror. Wireless cellular
networks, the Internet, and advanced encryption systems have made possible
worldwide, real-time intelligence gathering and support to military operations.
At the same time, the use of this technology — including cellular telephones

650

Michael I. Handel, Masters of War: Classic Strategic Thought (London: Frank Cass, 2002),

54.

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using SIM cards,651 instant messaging, chat rooms, and steganography652 — by
terrorist groups in planning and staging attacks has created serious challenges for
Western intelligence services. As the increasingly sophisticated face of terrorism
relies ever more heavily upon the ability to communicate effectively and covertly,
whether that communication involves tactical direction within an operational cell
or a call to action delivered across the globe, it becomes critical for an interrogator
to possess the requisite technical expertise to effectively exploit a detainee’s
knowledge in this vital area.
In a similar fashion, financing terrorism involves far more than simply
securing money for weapons and recruits. As terrorist attacks become more
complex (consider 11 September), the costs involved become substantial.653 The
ability to move large sums of money through a global system — which is now
more open to scrutiny by law enforcement and intelligence agencies after decades
of money laundering by international organized crime — poses challenges to
the terrorist. Because terrorist organizations use both cutting-edge technology
and ancient means of financing (e.g., Hawala, the underground, trust-based
banking system that facilitates the movement of money without a trailing record
of transactions), it is exceedingly difficult to identify the funding that supports
terrorism against the complex background of global finance. An interrogator who
lacks an understanding of how money moves across international boundaries,
how currencies are transformed into digital equivalents, the nature of national
and international reporting requirements, constantly evolving money laundering
schemes, and the system of Hawala, will have little ability to leverage the potential
intelligence value of a well-placed, knowledgeable source.
As challenging as these examples might be, greater challenges lie in possible
future conflict scenarios involving near-peer competitors (e.g., China). The
technical intelligence requirements for such a conflict would be far more complex
— and far more critical to the war effort — than in any previous conventional
conflict. With this in mind, the need to prepare for and overcome the technical
barriers to educing information becomes self-evident.
The Challenge of Technical Support to Interrogation
Technical barriers involve far more than the nature of the intelligence
gathered: of equal importance is the role of technology in how intelligence is
651
The Subscriber Identity Module contains a small microprocessor that stores information about
the phone, including the telephone number, and identifies that phone to a given network (i.e., network
permissions). Pre-paid SIM cards may be inserted into a phone and used on a one-time or limited basis,
which, along with encryption technology, makes it difficult to trace a call to an individual.
652
Steganography involves the insertion of a hidden message within an image or text. Although
a centuries-old practice, the advent of digital communications has presented enormous potential for
employing steganography to support covert communications.
653
The 9/11 Commission Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United
States notes that Al Qaeda operatives spent between $400,000 and $500,000 to plan and conduct the
attacks. Questions about the source of sizable short-trade actions targeting U.S. airline companies in
the days before September 11 remain unanswered. There has been speculation that Al Qaeda-related
entities employed this strategy to exploit the financial windfall that was almost certain to occur after
the hijackings, thereby funding the training and logistic support required to enable the attack.

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gathered. The past two decades have witnessed an explosion in the types and
quality of technology available to warfighters and intelligence officers. During
this same period, however, little systematic work has gone into identifying
developing, and fielding technologies in support of interrogation operations.
In this context, the search for certainty through technology has led some
to place unwarranted reliance on the accuracy of the polygraph. While law
enforcement agencies and intelligence services around the world routinely employ
the polygraph,654 it is certainly not the panacea some might suggest. Personalityand culture-driven factors continue to present significant challenges. For example,
will the person who views lying to the enemy as an acceptable, even noble, option
provide the same physiological cues that the polygraph examiner might normally
read as deception?
While additional research into this and other technical means of detecting
deception (e.g., voice stress analysis) should continue, other potential applications
of technology also merit further examination. Audio monitoring of detainees
throughout the course of their detention became de rigueur during World War
II. Both the U.S. strategic interrogation program (MIS-Y) at Fort Hunt, VA, and
the British MI-5 interrogation program at Latchmere House (Camp 020) relied
heavily upon extensive recording of conversations among prisoners. In the course
of conversations with cellmates, even highly disciplined German general officers
and Abwehr intelligence operatives routinely disclosed information that they
had carefully withheld from their interrogator. Twenty-first century electronic
technology could facilitate an unprecedented level of surreptitious audio and
video monitoring of detainees on a 24/7 basis.
The monitoring (and recording) of interrogations constitutes a broadly useful
role for technology. The potential value of such recordings is considerable.
•

They relieve the interrogator of the burden of note-taking (which can
also undermine efforts to elicit cooperation from a source by serving as a
constant reminder of the true nature of the exchange).

•

They offer the opportunity to systematically observe and analyze
psychophysical cues relating to deception.

•

They provide the most accurate and comprehensive means of capturing
any and all information of intelligence value presented by the source.

•

They can be an invaluable tool for preventing abusive conduct on the
part of interrogators as well as in investigating allegations of prisoner
mistreatment.

•

They can offer an unparalleled vehicle for developing the skills
of new interrogators.

Despite the advent of behavioral science consultation teams, the actual
interrogation has unnecessarily remained an individual pursuit. Even when

654
Committee to Review the Scientific Evidence on the Polygraph, National Research Council,
The Polygraph and Lie Detection (Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2003.)

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subject-matter experts observe the interrogation, they can typically provide input
only after the interrogation ends, unless they interrupt the process to confer with
the interrogator. Off-the-shelf communications systems make it possible for an
interrogator to obtain unprecedented real-time information from members of
the support team without physically leaving the interrogation room. Behavioral,
technical, cultural, and linguistic data and clarifications — provided in a manner
and at a pace tailored to the unique information needs and individual processing
capabilities of the interrogator — could significantly enhance the interrogator’s
ability to systematically explore a source’s full scope of knowledgeability while
reducing the potential for disrupting a productive line of inquiry that even a short
break might cause.
Other promising areas of technical support for educing information are facial
recognition software (a potentially powerful screening tool) and video recordings
that can be analyzed for microexpressions (psychophysical cues that may occur
so rapidly that they are routinely missed by casual observation).655 Blood tests
that precisely identify the geographic origins of the food recently consumed by
a source could help to corroborate or disprove a source’s statements regarding
recent travel or claimed whereabouts.
Unlocking the considerable potential of EI operations in the context of future
conflicts requires a thoughtful reassessment of the role science and technology will
play in this effort. A reasonable first step would be to form a team of specialists
drawn from the fields of interrogation operations, scientific and technical
intelligence analysis, HUMINT technical support teams, and communications to
identify a judicious way ahead.

Interpersonal/Intrapersonal Barriers656
Know how to analyze a man. The alertness of the examiner
is matched against the reserve of the examined. But great
judgment is called for, to take the measure of another. It is far
more important to know the composition, and the properties of
men, than those of herbs and stones. This is the most delicate
of the occupations in life: for the metals are known by their
ring, and men by what they speak; words show forth the mind
of man; yet more, his works. To this end the greatest caution is
necessary, the clearest observation, the subtlest understanding,
and the most critical judgment.657
655

See, for example, Paul Ekman, Telling Lies (New York: W.W. Norton and Co.: 1992).
The interpersonal/intrapersonal barrier to success suggests obvious areas of further exploration
from a behavioral science perspective; however, these will be addressed here only peripherally. A more
in-depth examination of those factors—with recommendations for specific areas of inquiry—will be
left to the cadre of credentialed behavioral scientists involved in this EI study. Instead, the author,
drawing upon his professional, operational, and academic background, limits his comments to the
equally vital areas of strategy and tradecraft.
657
Balthasar Gracian, The Art of Worldly Wisdom: A Collection of Aphorisms (Boston, MA:
Shambala Publications, 1993), 250.
656

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Even with an infusion of technology, EI will retain one key feature of
HUMINT operations vis à vis other intelligence collection disciplines: costeffectiveness. Divorced from the trappings of approach plans, questioning guides,
and intelligence report writing, the process of interrogation can be effectively
distilled to its underlying dynamic: a controlled exchange of information on both
an interpersonal and an intrapersonal level. In the context of an interrogation,
each side possesses information of interest to the other, and that information can
be strategically disclosed at a time and a pace designed specifically to support the
achievement of intended outcomes.
For the interrogator, the intended outcome is primarily the successful
collection of timely, accurate, and comprehensive intelligence information. For
the source, however, the intended outcome may vary dramatically from detainee
to detainee. While one source may seek exclusively to stymie the collection of any
useful information by the adversary (i.e., the interrogator) as part of a continued
fight for “the cause,” another may ultimately wish to provide information in
return for specific actions/rewards/treatment (e.g., promise of expedited release,
help in overthrowing a tyrant, better treatment for himself and/or his associates,
etc.). The source’s intended outcome will, in large measure, determine the rate
at which information is offered as well as both the quality and quantity of that
information.658
During this dynamic exchange, each side also manages a storehouse of
information comprising data that can be divided into three primary categories:
what is known, what is believed to be true (suspected), and what can only be
guessed. The interrogation itself involves a carefully controlled exchange of
statements of fact and statements of supposition, liberally interspersed with an
array of bluffs, feints, and ploys. This “move/counter-move” activity has been
likened to the game of chess. A more accurate analogy, however, might be the
ancient Chinese game of Go, where the number of possible combinations of board
positions is estimated to be approximately 10 to the 750th power. Fortunately,
interrogations — like Go — feature an assortment of recurring situations that,
through experience, can be quickly recognized and effectively addressed.659
Systems Approach
To engage successfully in this exchange of information, an interrogator must
possess a well-developed “talent” (whether it be an innate attribute, the product
of operational training, or some combination of the two) for systems thinking. The
658
A behavioral/cognitive approach to the interpersonal/intrapersonal barrier would pose several
critical and potentially revealing questions with respect to this “controlled exchange of information.”
Such an inquiry might explore both the interrogator’s mental construct and emotional framework as
he or she approaches the interrogation as well as examine how these states might be affected by the
interaction and/or over time as the operational relationship unfolds. A similar analysis involving the
source might yield important insights.
659
An important advantage that falls to the interrogator is the product of experience. While an
interrogator may participate in — and be able to learn from — literally hundreds of interrogations, the
source will have little personal experience to draw from, and none at all during the initial interrogation
session.

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systems approach recognizes interrogation as a “complex, dynamic system that
is…greater than the sum of its parts.” 660
Fundamental training in interrogation views the process as a series of discrete
events (e.g., approaches, questioning, termination, and bridging). Systems
thinking, by contrast, requires the interrogator to adopt a perceptual framework
that goes beyond a focus on discrete events to one that can rapidly identify patterns
and the confluence of events that generate those patterns. This approach enables
the interrogator to skillfully engage the patterns of action and reaction in ways
that will “enhance or improve the situation without creating new and different
problems elsewhere.”661 While the systems approach provides a uniquely helpful
framework for managing complex interactions, its ultimate value rests in its
ability to help propel events toward a specific outcome.
Whether or not the participants pay conscious attention662 to the underlying
dynamic, each word and every action brings with it a cascade of possible alternate
scenarios. Extrapolating from studies of the application of complexity theory
to intelligence analysis, it can be said that within the context of interrogation,
“[i]ndividual agents within the network are constantly reassessing their need
preferences and the degree to which they will compromise to bond with other
agents.”663 The degree of compromise in this vein may include, among many
others, acquiescence, understanding, withdrawal, defiance, or cooperation.
The Overriding Objective
Educing information from a source and negotiating the terms of agreement
between two countries are arguably the micro- and macro-manifestations of the
same interpersonal dynamic. Despite potentially dramatic differences in the scope
of interests, the number of participants involved, and the gravity of the outcome,
many of the fundamental principles involved apply in either context. This is
especially true with respect to the importance of intended outcomes. Professor
Roger Fisher, founder of the Harvard Negotiation Project, offers a powerful
insight into this important factor, observing, “[t]ime and again, those involved
in an international conflict — or in any conflict — fail to convert their goal into
a decision they would like an adversary to make. Although we often think of
ourselves as attempting to influence an adversary, we rarely think out just what
kind of decision our side might reasonably expect of the other.”664

660
Joseph O’Connor and Ian McDermott, The Art of Systems Thinking (London: Thorsons,
1997). x.
661
O’Connor and McDermott, The Art of Systems Thinking, x.
662
Understanding — and preparing for — the intrinsic rules of engagement in this dynamic creates
a window of opportunity for the interrogator to enhance the probability of achieving his or her own
intended outcome rather than that of the source. This should be included as a fundamental objective of
third generation interrogator training.
663
Michael F. Beech, Lt Col, USA, Observing Al Qaeda through the Lens of Complexity Theory:
Recommendations for the National Strategy to Defeat Terrorism, Strategy Research Paper (Carlisle
Barracks: Center for Strategic Leadership, U.S. Army War College, July 2004), 5.
664
Roger Fisher, Beyond Machiavelli (New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc, 1994), 95.

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To capitalize on this systems approach to educing information, an interrogator
must establish a lucid and unambiguous intended outcome. Such an outcome will
serve as nothing less than a fundamental organizing principle around which all
planning and execution of educing strategies will revolve.
Anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that the problems encountered in the
course of interrogations conducted at Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, and Bagram
Air Base have, at least in part, resulted from efforts to educe information from
resistant sources in the absence of an operationally relevant, clearly defined,
strategic outcome to effectively drive the process. Several factors have apparently
contributed to the systemic failure to establish such important guideposts: improper
planning, shortfalls in technical, operational, cultural or linguistic knowledge, or
even frustration resulting from the high-pressure demands of combat operations.
A well-designed intended outcome would enable the interrogator to craft a
thoughtful approach plan. In the context of interrogation, the intended outcome
performs two vital functions:
•

It should provide the interrogator with sufficient focus to enable him to
make rational decisions when presented with unexpected challenges,
and

•

It should ensure the approach plan and subsequent execution of that plan
will have — and maintain — internal consistency.

In an exhaustive study of the radical yet highly successful Blitzkrieg strategy
employed by the German Army during World War II, Colonel John Boyd, a U.S.
Air Force fighter pilot and strategist, identified the concept of Schwerpunkt as
one of the key enabling principles. Schwerpunkt can be described as a concept
that provides “focus and direction to the operation.”665 The profound importance
of this principle is illustrated by its central role in the famed Toyota Production
System, cited by many as arguably the most efficient automotive manufacturing
system in the world. For Toyota, Schwerpunkt can be defined as “shortening the
time it takes to convert customer orders into vehicle deliveries.” With such a
precisely defined point of focus, every member of the production team — from
top manager to the worker on the assembly line — is armed with a clear and
unambiguous standard upon which to base his or her actions.666
Focus — Schwerpunkt — for educing information would similarly drive
the development of interrogation approaches, their implementation, and, most
importantly, the decision-making of each interrogator working in an isolated,
high-pressure, sometimes chaotic operational environment. This focus would
empower the individual interrogator not only to glean intelligence information
from a knowledgeable source more effectively, but also to do so in a manner
consistent with legal, moral, and operational guidelines. In searching to identify
a Schwerpunkt for the U.S. approach to educing information, it might be difficult

665
666

Chet Richards, Certain to Win (Philadelphia, PA: Xlibris Publishing, 2004), 51.
Richards, Certain to Win, 124.

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to find a better operational exemplar than the objective established by the British
MI-5 interrogation program during World War II: Truth in the shortest possible
time.667
The second consideration, internal consistency, refers to an interrogation
approach plan and questioning methodology that progress logically toward a
pre-defined objective. Each action builds upon the last and sets the stage for the
next. By contrast, an interrogation in which themes and/or participants constantly
change in a scramble to identify a productive approach would reflect a lack of
internal consistency. Internal consistency suggests far more than a beginning
and an end state (although these are important factors): it requires an exquisitely
detailed, yet highly accommodating, map of the course to follow between those
two points. Admittedly, the complexity of any interaction between two individuals
makes it unlikely that every nuance, challenge, or turn of events can be realistically
anticipated. Nonetheless, an exhaustive planning effort will (1) enable the
interrogator (or, better, interrogation team) to gain some measure of knowledge/
expertise in the areas that are likely to surface, (2) lead to the development of an
overarching strategy (as well as tactics to deal with an array of possible tangents
or diversions), and (3) make it possible to devise an acceptable alternative should
intractable defiance be encountered.668
One final note is warranted with respect to “focus.” For the interrogator,
effective focus implies not only a disciplined centering on the goals and objectives
of the interrogation effort, but also a simultaneous awareness and consideration
of the source’s goals and objectives. Too often, interrogators intensely and
aggressively pursue their operational agenda without sufficiently acknowledging
that the source, too, has an agenda. In essence, the interpersonal barrier challenges
the interrogator to skillfully assume multiple roles in the perceptual position
paradigm that comprises first, second, and third positions:
First Position – From the first position, the interrogator views
the exchange from his or her point of view. This is a common
perceptual perspective and the one naturally assumed by most
individuals.
Second Position – Assuming the second position involves
an effort to view the exchange from the source’s point of
view. This involves not only a consideration of the source’s
feelings, desires, fears, hopes, etc., but also — and of equal
importance — how the source might view the interrogator’s
approach (i.e., as compelling, helpful, threatening, etc.). From

667
United Kingdom Public Record Office, Camp 020: MI5 and the Nazi Spies (Richmond, UK:
Public Record Office, 2000), 109. Truth in the shortest possible time” was the objective established for
the World War II MI-5 interrogation program known as Camp 020, which targeted suspected Abwehr
(German intelligence) spies. This Schwerpunkt was based on the operational consideration that “some
information in time is worth an encyclopedia out of date.”
668
In negotiation theory, this is referred to as a Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement
(BATNA).

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the second position, the interrogator is forced to consider how
his or her words, tonality, and body language work congruently
to generate the desired communication.
Third Position – In assuming the third position, the interrogator
seeks to become an independent observer of the exchange.
From this perspective, the interrogator is able to assess such
important concerns as proxemics,669 similarities and differences
in body language, and leveraging the physical setting in support
of the interrogation’s objectives.670 The third position can
also be of exceptional value in the effort to objectively gauge
progress toward an intended outcome. Finally, adopting this
perceptual framework can be a beneficial strategy for creating
the sense of emotional distance necessary when tempers flair
and the exchange becomes personal. In negotiation theory, this
is known as “going to the balcony.”671
Incorporating the concept of perceptual positions into the interrogation
strategy requires the interrogator to think — and act — on several planes at one
time. Disregarding the source’s interests can lead to unexpected and seemingly
inexplicable areas of disagreement and even outright defiance. Conversely,
regularly shifting among the three perceptual positions can enable the interrogator
to maintain a progressive, adaptable, proactive approach plan, one governed by
the overarching focus and enhanced by internal consistency. Fisher appears to
advocate the value of such a paradigm from his observations of international
negotiations:
After sketching out how the choice appears to the other side and
then creating an action plan to improve the situation, we need to
focus next on how our action plan might become reality…[w]e
fail to translate our plan into an action that someone could take
tomorrow. It is time to turn a general idea into a question to
be presented to the other side. What are some of the specific
decisions that we might want and might reasonably expect a
decision-nmaker on the other side to make. Instead of simply
confronting them with a problem, we should identify one or
more specific actions that we would like them to take to deal
with that problem.672

669
The study of the cultural, behavioral, and sociological aspects of spatial distances between
individuals.
670
The intrepid interrogator is mindful of the impact of the physical setting on the psychological
set of the source (i.e., does the location, configuration, temperature, furnishings, and size of the room
support or detract from the chosen theme).
671
See William Ury, Getting Past No: Negotiating Your Way from Confrontation to Cooperation
(New York: Bantam Books, 1993).
672
Fisher, Beyond Machiavelli, 95–96.

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Making Sense of Chaos and Ambiguity
History is replete with examples of apparently sound and carefully reasoned
plans gone horribly awry as they moved from the chalkboard (or PowerPoint
presentation) into the real world, where they invariably encountered a ubiquitous
and implacable foe: chaos. This chaos — also known by the Clausewitzian terms
“fog of war” and “friction” — is unavoidable and, in many cases, unpredictable.
Incisive strategy, however, can ameliorate and even overcome fog and friction.
Chaos and ambiguity are the handmaidens of conflict. These two forces appear
to remain omnipresent across the entire spectrum of conflict, from maneuver
warfare on the battlefield to negotiations between multinational corporations.
Rather than wish them away — or, worse yet, pretend to ignore their existence
— the prudent strategist anticipates and, where possible, seeks to employ them
as an advantage over a less agile adversary. Such an approach is as valid in the
interrogation room as it is in other fields of battle.
The interpersonal/intrapersonal barrier to success introduces unique forms of
chaos and ambiguity that an interrogator who wants to educe information from a
reluctant source must recognize, understand, and address. The following are but a
few examples of the intractable factors that can generate chaos and ambiguity in
the course of an extended interrogation process:673
•

The inherent complexity of personalities

•

The role of changing, incompatible expectations

•

The influence of life experience

•

Tactics and strategies of formal resistance training

•

Rapidly changing operating environment

•

Rapidly changing intelligence requirements

•

Introducing new and/or additional sources into the process

•

Removing sources from the process.

A judicious assumption in this context is that the individual (interrogator or
source) who demonstrates greater skill and adaptability in consistently responding
to chaos and ambiguity, in an environment often characterized by a smog of data,674
will ultimately prevail. If this is true, an overarching strategy for successfully
navigating the conflict is essential. Fortunately, such a strategy exists…and can
easily be tailored for application to the context of interrogation.

673
Given the nature of chaos and ambiguity it would be practically impossible to establish a
truly comprehensive list of such factors. Also, the examples above were limited to those relevant to
the Interpersonal/Intrapersonal Barrier to Success. The Linguistic/Cultural and Scientific/Technical
Barriers to Success generate a host of additional factors that can similarly create chaos and ambiguity.
674
Similar to Clausewitz’s fog of war, the smog of data represents the friction and sensory overload
encountered by decisionmakers at all levels as they encounter the unprecedented volume of intelligence
information generated by the modern U.S. Intelligence Community.

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Decision-Making Cycles: The Importance of Agility and the Role of
Ambiguity
As noted previously, a fundamental strategy for dealing with ambiguity
rests on understanding how to employ ambiguity to one’s advantage rather than
viewing it as something to be rigidly avoided. In Certain to Win, Chet Richards
captures the true meaning of ambiguity in a manner that has direct application to
educing information from resistant sources:
Ambiguity is a terrible thing, much more effective as a strategy
than deception, with which it is often confused. Deception is
correctly described as a tactic: If you are deceived, you will be
surprised when you discover the truth, and it is possible that
you will be led to do some things, perhaps even fatal things, that
you would not have done if you had realized the truth earlier. It
can be an extremely effective tactic, even though your ability to
function as a thinking human being is not at risk. This is exactly
what you can attack and destroy using ambiguity. There is no
conflict, however, between ambiguity and deception, since the
first provides the environment for the second. If something vital,
such as life is at stake, losing track of a deadly threat in the fog
of ambiguity can quickly lead to confusion, panic, and terror,
which in turn will cause the decision-making of the less agile
party to break down.675
Strategy, by definition, involves the effective marshalling of available
resources in a manner that will achieve a purposeful outcome. The employment
of strategy routinely involves the application and reapplication of resources (with
each subsequent application being at levels equal to, greater than, or less than
the original) in response to changes in the operating environment — be it the
battlefield, marketplace, or interrogation room. Ultimately this continuous loop
of action/reaction will end when a pre-determined end-state has been reached.
Boyd, the fighter pilot-turned master strategist, brilliantly captured the essence
of strategy as a:
mental tapestry of changing intentions for harmonizing and
focusing our efforts as a basis for realizing some aim or
purpose in an unfolding and often unforeseen world of many
bewildering events and many contending interests.676
Current interrogation training falls painfully short in this respect. Instead of
the freeform methods necessary to meet the changing nature of the challenge (e.g.,
sources from different cultures, varying language requirements, rapidly evolving
intelligence requirements, shifting alliances and adversaries, etc.), training and
field experience too often encourages (and rewards) a rigid adherence to process.
Current and emerging EI requirements can be met only with an overarching

675
676

Richards, Certain to Win, 67.
Richards, 84.

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philosophy that advances the following foundational principle: If the adversary
changes — if he learns from his experiences — the interrogator must have the
capacity to learn and adapt with greater speed (what Boyd termed “asymmetric
fast transients”).
The ability to learn and adapt requires the interrogator to possess two critical
qualities. These should permeate the methods employed and inform the decisionmaking cycle. The first is sensory acuity. This implies having sufficient situational
and interpersonal awareness to recognize, understand, and make contextual sense
of what is occurring. More specifically, it is the ability to make rapid — and
accurate — assessments of cause and effect. This might take the form of noticing
a rise in the intensity of stress-induced grooming behaviors when the source is
asked questions about certain topics (e.g., the location of a training base about
which the source claims to have no knowledge) and an absence of those same
behaviors when he/she is asked questions about other matters. The second critical
quality is flexibility. Flexibility — in behavior, in strategy, in choice of physical
setting — ultimately means an ability to change what one is doing. The successful
interrogator can quickly and purposefully change an approach plan to fit the
source rather than the other way around (which, curiously, is a more common
phenomenon than one might expect). Flexibility is the interrogator’s key ally in
the struggle against chaos and ambiguity.
Competitive Decision-Making: Applying Boyd’s OODA Loop to
Educing Information
Reduced to its essential nature, an interrogation can be defined as a
competition between two decision-making cycles. Within this context, elements
such as adaptability, speed, sensory acuity and flexibility are critical factors, with
success accruing to the party that possesses and employs them more effectively.
The strategy of Observe—Orient—Decide—Act (the OODA Loop) originated
by Colonel Boyd exquisitely captures these elements and provides a unique
framework for their systematic, outcome-oriented orchestration. The unique
nature of this dynamic is concisely described as follows:677
Knowledge of the strategic environment is the first priority.
Secondly, one must be able to interact with the environment
and those within it appropriately. You must be able to observe
and orient yourself in such a way that you can indeed survive
and prosper by shaping the environment where possible to your
own ends, by adapting to it where you must. Doing so requires
a complex set of relationships that involve both isolation and
interaction. Knowing when each is appropriate is critical to
your success. In OODA Loop fashion, one must continually
observe, orient, decide and act in order to achieve and maintain

677
In the context of Boyd’s decision-making cycle, “knowledge of the strategic environment” can
be used interchangeably with “sensory acuity,” while “the ability to interact with the environment and
those within it appropriately” essentially implies the same meaning as “flexibility.”

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freedom of action and maximize the chances for survival and
prosperity. One does so through a combination of rapidity,
variety, harmony, and initiative. It is these that are the core
of “Boyd’s Way.” Rapidity of action or reaction is required to
maintain or regain initiative. Variety is required so one is not
predictable, so there is no pattern recognition for a foe to allow
him to know of your actions in advance and thus plan to defeat
them. Harmony is the fit with the environment and others
operating in it. Initiative – taking charge of your own destiny—
is required if one is to master circumstances rather than be
mastered by them. All of course, would be focused on attaining
the specified objective that is implicit in this discussion.678
The specified objective noted in this passage is a key to the focus addressed
previously. Focus rests upon several, mutually supportive objectives that will,
together, inform the OODA cycle. One fundamental objective, or Schwerpunkt,
of the OODA strategy would have consistent and adaptable applicability to the
EI process regardless of the circumstances (i.e., source, setting, intelligence
requirements, etc.), and that is: Diminish the adversary’s capacity for independent
action, or deny him the opportunity to survive on his own terms.679
The OODA Loop and Educing Information
In considering how to apply the OODA Loop strategy (presented
graphically below) to the challenge of educing information from an intelligence
source, the logical first step is to examine each phase of the overall cycle
individually.

678
Grant T. Hammond, “The Essential Boyd,” Web-Only Essay, undated, URL:
http://www.belisarius.com/modern_business_strategy/hammond/essential_boyd.htm,
accessed
15 January 2006.
679
In the context of educing information, the term “survival” refers to the ability of a participant
— interrogator or source — to achieve his or her specified outcomes. For the interrogator, this would
mean the collection of accurate, timely, and comprehensive information. For the source, this could
mean effective resistance or negotiating an attractive trade of information for a desired outcome (e.g.,
release, better conditions, etc.).

259

The OODA Loop. Source: Defense and the National Interest, URL:
http://www.d-n-i.net/fcs/pdf/bazin_ooda.pdf, accessed 16 November 2006.
Observation: Observation involves gathering information via the senses.
Although made possible by the physiological mechanisms of sight, sound, touch,
taste, and smell, effective observation is informed by experience, training, and
even intuition. Astute observation is a product of acute situational awareness.
An experienced interrogator, by virtue of possessing the so-called “trained eye,”
might note a subtle gesture that a less experienced observer might miss. Boyd’s
research suggests that observations are both informed and influenced by implicit
guidance and control; unfolding circumstances; outside information; and unfolding
interaction with the environment. In a similar vein, observation systematically
collects and organizes tonality, word choice, gestures, analogies, metaphors, and
myriad other “observables” in a manner that enables the interrogator to move
effectively to the next phase.

Example of Observation: The source readily answers non-pertinent
questions, seems to interact without hesitation with both the interrogator
and the interpreter, and appears to be cooperative. However, when
pertinent questions are posed about the location of weapons caches,
the source shows observable changes in posture, speech, and ability to
understand.

Orientation: Orientation involves the considered analysis and synthesis of
the information gathered during the observation phase. Critical to the transition
from observation to orientation is the presence of the sensory acuity described
previously. Sensory acuity helps shape the mental construct necessary to
effectively approach the challenge and aids in answering the important question,
“What does this mean?” Orientation is enhanced through continuous refinement
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and training, and ultimately leads to comprehension and understanding. Boyd’s
concept of orientation included such considerations as cultural traditions, genetic
heritage, new information, previous experience, and analysis/synthesis.

Example of Orientation: Observable changes when answering pertinent
questions open the possibility of conscious resistance. Additional questioning,
research into known information about the source, and consultation with
cultural and technical subject matter experts, suggest the source has useful
knowledge but is constrained by concerns about the personal consequences
of cooperation. Examples of the personal consequences of cooperation
include guilt over the betrayal of colleagues, discomfort over feelings of
appearing weak, and fear of retribution if cooperation is discovered.

Decision: Informed by both observation and orientation, one must determine
the effective course of action. In the context of educing information, the decision
has two aspects: (1) what can and should be done and (2) what can and should
not be done. In the case of the former, the decision to act resembles a craftsman’s
choosing the correct implement for the job from a toolbox. By contrast, the
decision regarding what actions not to take resembles the craftsman’s consulting
with legal, environmental, and safety professionals before beginning the job.
Knowledge, the refinement of skills, perspective, the Law of Requisite Variety
(see footnote52 above), and the range of available options are major factors in the
decision-making phase.

Example of Decision: On the basis of observation and orientation, the
interrogator considers a range of options shaped by time, tactics, and
temperament. Time refers to the amount of time available for the conduct
of one or a series of interrogations. Tactics refers to the approach methods
and strategies that are appropriate given an assessment of not only the
source’s strengths and weaknesses, but also those of the interrogator. Finally,
temperament refers to the selection of a lead interrogator who best matches
the demographic, technical, and linguistic profile of the source.

Action: Action is the actual physical manifestation of the decision. Once the
action (i.e., interrogation) begins, action is governed by the Schwerpunkt (e.g.,
truth in the shortest possible time)

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Example of Action: The interrogator invests the time necessary to plan
and prepare for the actual interrogation before actually encountering the
source. The initial and follow-on interrogations are characterized by logical
progression, internal consistency, and adaptability. The interrogator seeks
to move through the OODA decisionmaking cycle more rapidly than the
source, ultimately enabling the interrogator to enter and influence/control
the source’s decisionmaking cycle. In doing so, the interrogator limits the
source’s options, shapes his responses, and finally reduces/removes his
ability to “survive” (i.e., effectively conceal, deceive, or resist).

The strategy described above involves a continuous cycle of observation,
orientation, decision, and action, with each phase informed directly or indirectly
by the others. Decisions, for example, provide direct feedback to observations,
while actions indirectly inform orientation through the observation phase. The
operating objective is to secure and maintain the greatest degree of freedom of
action; the desired end state is survival.680
In unlocking the potential of any strategy, including that of the OODA Loop,
an intimate understanding of the precepts must lead to their correct application in
an environment defined by time, space, and mass. To navigate the OODA matrix
in a manner that enables dominance of the environment — and an adversary
— Boyd emphasized the need to operate with a skillful combination of rapidity,
variety, harmony, and initiative:
•

Rapidity: Rapidity of action and reaction is essential to gain, maintain,
and/or regain the initiative. Speed in correct decision-making and
corresponding action is critical.

•

Variety: Variety – in thought and action — is required so that one is never
predictable. Variety in action prevents the adversary from recognizing
patterns of action with any degree of confidence. This, in turn, makes it
impossible for the adversary to anticipate actions and craft strategies to
defeat them.

•

Harmony: Harmony refers to fitting or blending into the operational
environment. In educing information, a great deal can be learned from
the principles of the martial art Aikido, which places great emphasis
on blending with (i.e., moving with rather than struggling against) an
adversary’s energy. In doing so, one creates the opportunity to subtly
yet profoundly influence the movement and resulting decisions of an
adversary without a costly investment of energy and resources.

680
Survival in this context implies the continued viability of the educing effort. In essence, the
employment of this strategy enables the interrogator to create — and take advantage of — opportunities
to elicit information of relevant and timely intelligence value from a knowledgeable, albeit resistant,
source.

262

•

Initiative: Initiative – seeking out and taking control of one’s own
destiny — is necessary to achieve mastery of the environment
and interactions with adversaries and to avoid being mastered
by them.

Although Boyd’s strategy began to take shape with his experiences in aerial
combat during the Korean War, its application nonetheless remains unbounded by
time or technology. It incorporates principles espoused by the strategist Sun Tzu
over 2,500 years ago as well as those set forth by the laws of thermodynamics.
Variations on this strategic theme have demonstrated their efficacy on the
battlefields of World War II and in the lethality of the renowned 17th-century
Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi. In the following passage, Musashi,
author of the classic treatise on strategy, The Book of Five Rings, succinctly sets
forth much of what every interrogator needs to successfully educe information
from resistant sources:
[Y]ou determine [the] opponent’s traditions, observe [their]
character, find out [their] strengths and weaknesses, maneuver
in ways contrary to the opponent’s expectations, determine the
opponent’s highs and lows, ascertain rhythms in between, and
make the first move; this is essential.681

Concluding Observations
[I]t is a paradox of the twenty-first century that, in
this age of technological wonders, the threats to our lives,
wealth, and order are fundamentally, crudely human. We may
diagram bunkers, bombs, and entire armies, but we falter at
understanding the human soul. Nor will the human heart fit into
our templates. Love, fear, hatred, not machines, are the stuff
of which wars are made, whether we speak of terrorist jihads,
campaigns of ethnic cleansing, or conventional offensives (and
do not underestimate the deadly power of love, whether felt
toward a god, a people, a clan, flag, or an individual.)682
Educing Information in the Last (or Current) War
With much of the nation’s military, intelligence, and internal security resources
currently focused on the Global War on Terror and the insurgency in Iraq, any
effort to reexamine doctrine and methods for educing information can be too
easily — and mistakenly — narrowed to applications within these two contexts.
Although those who use terrorist and insurgent tactics have demonstrated an
unprecedented mastery of leading-edge technologies, the scope and complexity of

681
Miyamoto Musashi, The Book of Five Rings, translated by Thomas Cleary (London: Shambhala
Publications, Inc., 2003), 56.
682
Ralph Peters, Beyond Terror (Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2002), 195.

263

this technology fall far short of that which would be involved in a major regional
conflict or, certainly, a strategic engagement with an emerging peer-competitor
such as the People’s Republic of China.
The challenge of educing information from uncooperative sources
cannot be overstated, but neither can the requirement for acquiring timely and
accurate intelligence information that can only be obtained from human sources.
Sun Tzu’s observation continues to ring true in today’s geopolitical environment:
What enables the wise sovereign and the good general to strike
and conquer, and achieve things beyond the reach of ordinary
men is foreknowledge. Now this foreknowledge cannot be
elicited from spirits; it cannot be obtained inductively from
experience, nor by any deductive calculation.
Knowledge of the enemy’s disposition can only be obtained
from other men.683 (Original italics)
Toward a Third Generation in Educing Information
The effort to collect intelligence information from resistant sources can
be traced back to antiquity. A review of the strategies and objectives involved
suggests a sluggish evolution through just two doctrinal generations.
Through most of recorded history, prevailing political powers employed
first generation strategies that relied heavily on physical force. In this era, the
fundamental objective of terrorizing — and thereby controlling — target
populations frequently took precedence over the collection of operationally useful
information.
The second generation of educing information emerged in the closing years
of World War I, when the British director of military intelligence began to examine
in earnest the need to obtain timely and reliable information from prisoners of
war. From that beginning, the strategic interrogation programs developed by
the German, British, and U.S. militaries during World War II established, in
unprecedented fashion, that a potential treasure trove of information can be
obtained from a systematic, outcome-oriented approach to interrogation that
relied far more on finesse than on force.
As the impetus for building on this promising beginning began to fade shortly
after the conclusion of World War II, the experience of U.S. soldiers held prisoner
during the Cold War — especially during the Korean and Vietnam conflicts —
gave rise to a new emphasis on designing strategies for resisting coercive methods
of interrogation. As a result, the preponderance of U.S. government-sanctioned
interrogation research focused on deconstructing coercive methods. The objective
was to develop defensive strategies that would protect U.S. servicemen who faced
the possibility of being held in foreign governmental detention and where they
would be subject to prolonged exploitation.

683

Sun Tzu, 77–78.

264

During this same period, the study of non-coercive interrogation methods to
support intelligence collection received only modest interest. Interrogation tactics,
techniques, and procedures established in the Cold War era fell short in building
upon the legacy of World War II strategic interrogation operations. Instead,
contemporary interrogation doctrine and training curricula were developed without
the benefit of formal studies of the potential efficacy of offensive interrogation684
methods. In sum, a considerable portion of “what we know” about interrogation
— including approach methodology, the detection of deception, and reading body
language — is in fact largely unsubstantiated. Thus, when the Global War on
Terror focused us anew on devising offensive interrogation methods, the product
was at times adulterated by the principles of coercive interrogation drawn from
studies of Communist methodologies. As this war has continued, evidence of
the employment of coercive methods by U.S. interrogators has appeared with
alarming frequency.
The opportunity currently presents itself to make a transition to the next
generation of educing information. The strategies that will form the foundation
for the third generation of doctrine and practice for educing information will
be driven by the need to overcome the barriers outlined in this paper. The effort
should be characterized by the following considerations:
•

Methods will be consistent with long-standing U.S. legal and moral
traditions.

•

Formal research will, whenever possible, seek to demonstrate the efficacy
of methods in an operational setting.

•

Institutions will recognize that the complexity of challenges in
interrogation is on par with those of clandestine collection operations.

•

Standards of conduct and formal vetting programs will be introduced
to limit recruitment to those individuals best suited to dealing with the
complexities and ambiguities of interrogation.

•

The long-term examination of selected high-value sources will take place
under exacting standards and be subject to appropriate oversight.

•

Rigorous requirements for initial and ongoing training,
accompanied by an unambiguous standard of ethics and
practices, will introduce a new level of professionalism into the
interrogation discipline.

The barriers to success in educing information, while formidable, are not
insurmountable. That these barriers still confront us reflects not necessarily the
complexity of the barriers per se, but rather the absence of a systematic effort to
address them. In this regard, the words of Colin Powell, former Chairman of Joint

684
The Joint Forces Command of the Department of Defense has labeled interrogation operations
conducted for the purpose of collecting intelligence from foreign sources offensive interrogation,
whereas resistance to interrogation is referred to as defensive interrogation.

265

Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of State, hold true: “There are no secrets to success.
It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.”

266

8
Negotiation Theory and Practice:
Exploring Ideas to Aid Information Eduction
Daniel L. Shapiro, Ph.D.685
Harvard University
February 2006

Abstract
Information eduction can be viewed as a complex set of negotiations.
Government officials have information needs, and sources have information they can disclose. The challenge is to determine how the government
can negotiate most effectively for that information. This report describes
negotiation concepts that might assist the information educer.

The Field of Negotiation
Brief Background
The negotiation field offers little in the way of direct research into the
challenge of educing information (EI) in an interrogation context. However, it is
worth noting that the current field of negotiation theory, like that of EI, arose from
necessity and has largely been tested in the trenches of practice. Game-theoretical
analyses of negotiation, such as Nobel Laureate Thomas Schelling’s The Strategy
of Conflict, sought to curb escalating tensions in the Cold War. Interest-based
negotiation, typified by the Harvard Negotiation Project’s 1981 Getting to Yes,
was developed in the context of the project’s negotiations in the Iranian Hostage
conflict, with guerrilla forces in Central and South America, and in the IsraeliPalestinian conflict. Walton and McKersie’s seminal negotiation research (1965)
was developed to reduce contentious labor negotiations. The negotiation work
of Mary Parker Follett evolved from dissatisfaction with the way organizations
dealt with difference (Follett, 1942). Scientific research in negotiation has been
a more recent development, but tends to confirm earlier, practice-based theory
(Thompson and Leonardelli, 2004).

685
Dr. Shapiro is Associate Director of the Harvard Negotiation Project and on the faculty at
Harvard Law School and Harvard Medical School. The author wishes to thank Robert Fein, Mary
Rowe, Elizabeth Tippet, Roger Fisher, and the blind reviewers who offered feedback on previous
drafts of this report.

267

This report, then, represents an effort to offer ideas from negotiation theory
and practice to those who have responsibilities for developing and carrying out
EI activities. The author has selected robust concepts that show promise for
successful adaptation and use by an information educer. That being said, this
report is clearly exploratory. Although the author has consulted with experts in the
field of information eduction and was trained by the New York Police Department
in hostage negotiation, his areas of expertise are negotiation, conflict resolution,
and psychology, not EI. Thus, he leaves it to the judgment and creative thinking of
national security officials to consider how the following ideas might be usefully
applied or adapted to EI.
Why Negotiations Fail
There are at least four major reasons why parties fail to reach a satisfactory
outcome even when such an outcome is possible. First, they commonly assume
that negotiation involves a “fixed pie,” in which any gain by one party is a loss
for the other. This assumption can quickly turn an interaction into an adversarial
contest and can constrain the parties’ ability to explore creative ways of satisfying
their interests. Second, many negotiators fail to use the most efficient means to
divide the “pie” and obtain their portion. Typically, each party tries to persuade
the other via a battle of wills, which often leads to stalemate. Third, negotiators
often communicate a proposal — even a promising one — in a way that fails
to maximize the likelihood that the other party will agree. Finally, negative
emotions — anger, shame, embarrassment, anxiety, or others — can impede the
negotiation.
This report summarizes strategies that address each of these common causes
of negotiation failure:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Assumption of “fixed pie?” Use methods that expand the pie.
Inefficient means? Choose an efficient process to divide the pie.
Poor framing? Craft a “yesable proposition.”
Emotions getting in the way? Improve the relationship with the other side
— without giving in.

Expanding the Pie
Until the early 1980s, most popular negotiation texts considered negotiation
a win-lose game, in which every gain made by one side comes at the expense
of the other. Negotiation was generally seen as “positional bargaining,” where
representatives of each side would state their position, concede only stubbornly, or
demonstrate a greater willingness than the other side to walk from the negotiation
table. Negotiation scholars such as Roger Fisher and Robert McKersie recognized,
however, that the pie need not be fixed. In most situations, the potential exists to
create opportunities for mutual gain (Fisher, Ury, and Patton, 1991; Walton and
McKersie, 1991).
Seeking mutual gains is not simply an act of compassion toward the other
party: it is a wise move of self-interest. One of the most important revelations of
game theory is that parties who seek to gain solely at the expense of the other side
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often risk worse outcomes than those who search for mutual gains. Consider the
scenario of the “prisoner’s dilemma,” where two co-conspirators who committed
a crime are locked in separate cells. If each independently decides to betray his
partner in order to get a better deal for himself, both are convicted. If only one
defects, the other is convicted. If both stay silent, both are acquitted. To evaluate
the best strategy in a multi-round version of this dilemma, researchers organized
a computer tournament and invited experts to submit a strategy. The winning
strategy was “tit-for-tat” (Axelrod 1984), which instructed the computer to begin
by cooperating but to respond in kind if the other side defected. In this highly
adversarial context, conditional cooperation best served each individual’s selfinterest.
Similarly, in negotiation, seeking to expand the pie can serve the self-interest
of both parties. Economic theory describes the relationship between individual
and joint interest using the “Pareto curve” (Raiffa, 1982), illustrated on the next
page, where the y axis represents party A’s satisfaction with the outcome and the
x axis represents party B’s satisfaction. In a traditional bargaining situation, A and
B each present an opening position that exclusively serves their own interests
(denoted by the circles labeled “A’s Position” and “B’s Position”). If A and B
agree to compromise by cutting their demands in half, they end up approximately
at outcome Z, but outcome Z is suboptimal. If A and B had investigated mutual
gains, they could have reached an agreement lying in the grey region, where
either or both would have been individually better off than at Z. The curve on the
graphic represents the limit on mutual gains. Any outcome lying on the curve is
a “Pareto-optimal outcome” — an agreement that cannot be improved upon by
either party without disadvantaging the other.

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The Pareto Curve. Source: Roger Fisher and Bruce Patton, “The Pareto Frontier,”
in Workbook for the Program of Instruction for Lawyers at Harvard Law School
(Cambridge, MA: Harvard Negotiation Project, 2006), 36.
Despite these insights of economists and game theoreticians, negotiators
might persist and ask (with good reason): Why care about the other’s interests?
There are several reasons:
1.

A focus on mutual gains increases the incentive to cooperate (Fisher and
Shapiro, 2005). Parties will be less likely to cooperate if they do not see
it as being in their interest to cooperate: why help the enemy?

2.

Mutual gains increase the likelihood that future interactions will be
constructive (Axelrod, 1984). Parties will be less likely to cooperate in
the future if they have memories of feeling deceived or mistreated by the
other party.

3.

An adversarial stance makes stalemate more likely. If parties assume that
the conflict is a win-lose situation, each is likely to stick to a position.
As egos and negative emotions become increasingly involved, stalemate
becomes a likely and stable outcome (Rubin, Pruitt, and Kim, 1994).

4.

“Mutual gains” does not mean giving in to the demands of the other side.
Pareto-optimal outcomes do not focus on each party’s stated position,
such as whether or not to give information, but on underlying interests,
such as why the source does not want to give information.

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In contrast to positional bargaining, “interest-based negotiation” proceeds
on the assumption that negotiators often overlook opportunities for mutual gains,
thereby failing to achieve the best outcome for themselves. 686 This is particularly
true in negotiations that involve multiple issues, both quantitative and qualitative
issues (e.g., desire for respect), and an interest in establishing a good working
relationship.
Negotiation theory (e.g., Fisher, Ury, and Patton, 1991; Walton and McKersie,
1965) offers several strategies for expanding the pie.
Look beneath Positions for Interests
Positions are rigid solutions to the problems at hand (e.g., the United States
should immediately withdraw all of its troops from Iraq). Interests are why a party
wants those things (e.g., to prevent U.S. soldiers from being killed, to save money,
to focus on other international threats).
In a negotiation, understanding the other side’s interests enhances the power
of a negotiator to persuade the other side. When one understands what the other
side cares about, one can develop options that address these interests in ways that
do not conflict with one’s own interests. What is stopping them from cooperating?
What do they care about? What do they want? Why? The author’s experience
in consulting for high-level governmental negotiators suggests that people often
fail to consider the other side’s interests sufficiently, thus reducing their power to
influence their counterparts.
At first glance, an EI context would appear to be a purely positional situation.
One side wants to gain information; the other does not want to disclose it. But
each side has a more complex set of interests defining why each cares about
the information. Interests for a source might include religious beliefs, a desire
not to lose face within an organization, or fear of being ostracized by family,
community, and peers. Interests for an educer might include national security,
reputation in the local community, locating additional sources, relationships with
governments, and precedent. Distinguishing between positions and interests may
reveal potential sources of value creation.
Invent Options for Mutual Gain
Once parties understand each other’s interests, they can invent options for
mutual gain. Even where a value-creating option will not directly benefit our own
interests, it increases the likelihood that the other side will accept our proposal.
Consider the recent conflict between Peru and Ecuador. The two countries
disagreed over boundary issues and engaged in what the U.S. State Department
called the “oldest armed conflict in the Western Hemisphere”: each country
686
Seven elements of negotiation comprise the essence of both hard bargaining and interest-based
negotiation. These seven elements also form the basis of several of our negotiation courses at the
Harvard Negotiation Project. The “Seven Elements” are a manageable number of robust concepts that
one can use to prepare, conduct, and evaluate a negotiation. See the appendix for a description of each
element and its contours in both hard bargaining and interest-based negotiation.

271

claimed that a piece of land in the Amazonian basin was legitimately theirs and
theirs alone.
The Harvard Negotiation Project worked closely with President Jamil
Mahuad as he negotiated a resolution to the dispute (see Fisher and Shapiro, 2005).
A joint working group consisting of officials from both governments generated
an option that adequately addressed each side’s primary interests. The contested
land would become an international park under the ownership of Ecuador and
the sovereignty of Peru. No economic, political, or military activity could be
conducted on the land without the agreement of both governments. This option
allowed each party to reach a satisfactory resolution without giving in.
Identify Trade-offs
In a negotiation, differences are not always bad. Parties can look for different
valuation of issues and trade accordingly. In its simplest form, if one person likes
oranges more than apples, and the other likes apples more than oranges, a simple
transfer of goods can maximize joint gains.
Parties can create contingency agreements to capitalize on differences in
risk, expectations, and the like. (“If A happens, Party Y will do B and Party Z
will do C.”) Differences in the forecast of future events, for example, need not
become stumbling blocks for agreement. Rather than fight over whose forecast is
correct, parties can incorporate contingencies for each possible outcome into the
agreement. Contingency agreements also can be effective if parties have different
time preference or attitudes toward risk.
Unbundle One Issue into Many
If parties focus on a single issue, the negotiation risks becoming a distributional
contest. Negotiation research suggests that one way to avoid a distributional contest
is to “unbundle issues,” transforming a single-issue, fixed-pie negotiation into a
multi-issue negotiation where mutual gains can be reached (Lax and Sebenius,
1986; Thompson, 2005). For the educer, the question boils down to: How might
the educer add new issues, unbundle issues, or otherwise expand the number of
issues under discussion? What else does the source care about? How might those
matters be incorporated into the current discussion? Putting more issues that the
source cares about on the table may give the source more incentive to cooperate.
Similarly, multiple simultaneous offers can serve to break a deadlock
(Bazerman and Neale, 1992; Kelley and Schenitzki, 1972). The offers should all
be of equal value to the offering party to improve the likelihood of meeting one’s
own objectives without making concessions. Each offer should cover multiple
issues to avoid the problem of sequential, tit-for-tat, haggling. All offers should
be made at the same time, which allows the offering party to observe the other
party’s reaction, learn more about the other’s interests, and, if an offer is accepted,
reach a Pareto-optimal outcome.

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Separate Inventing from Deciding
Negotiators often fear that if they invent options while the other party is
present they will lock themselves into an unwise situation. For example, they
may state an option that goes against their interests and the other party may hold
them to the “offer.” Thus, the interest-based negotiator separates inventing from
deciding: both sides agree that no commitments will be made until a final package
is formalized. The first task is to understand interests and invent options for mutual
gain. At this stage, nothing is a commitment. Then, once a full set of options is
generated, parties can refine options to best meet the interests of each side.
For example, the negotiation process used at the 1978 Camp David
negotiations involved a clear separation between inventing and deciding. As
mediator, the United States circulated numerous versions of a draft agreement to
each side for review. Neither side was asked to make a commitment until the 23rd
draft, when the United States determined that this was the best proposal that could
be produced under the circumstances.

Dividing the Pie
No matter how much value parties create, they must still divide the pie to
obtain what they want — whether that means land, money, or (in the case of the
educer) information. The negotiation literature offers a number of strategies for
increasing one’s share of the distributional pie. These strategies can be divided into
two categories: 1) moves that can be made at the negotiation table; and 2) moves
away from the table (i.e., actions that can be taken independent of the other party).
Each of these moves can influence the power dynamics of the negotiation.
Some strategies presented here might be rightly categorized as “contentious
tactics” designed to get one’s way at the other’s expense (Rubin, Pruitt, and Kim,
1994). These strategies can provide an immediate distributional payoff, but they
also increase the risk of damaging a relationship, escalating a conflict, or ending
in stalemate (Axelrod, 1984; Rubin, Pruitt, and Kim, 1994). Thus, contentious
tactics work best when only one issue is at stake, the issue is quantifiable, and the
quality of the relationship is unimportant (Shapiro, 2000).
Strategic Moves at the Negotiation Table
Strategic moves at the negotiation table are actions intended to influence
the distribution of the pie. Three such moves include drawing on standards of
legitimacy, using “gamesmanship,” and making threats.
Drawing on Standards of Legitimacy
Negotiations often turn into a battle of wills. Each side takes a position
and demands that the other concede. This tends to lead to adversarial behavior,
stalemate, or failed negotiation — even when agreement was reasonably possible
for each side.
By drawing on “standards of legitimacy” (Fisher, Ury, and Patton, 1991),
negotiators can improve their power to persuade and reduce the risk of a failed

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negotiation. Standards of legitimacy are external, objective criteria — independent
of one’s will or that of the other party — that can be used to persuade others that
one option is more fair than another. Standards might be drawn from common
practice, precedent, or the like. Rather than state “you must concede to our
demands,” a negotiator would offer standards of legitimacy — persuasive to each
negotiator — for choosing one option over another. In the context of EI, standards
of legitimacy might be drawn from religious, cultural, social, or related sources.
Using Gamesmanship
The point of gamesmanship is to “ruffle the feathers” of decisionmakers,
throwing them off guard and making them increasingly willing to yield (Rubin,
Pruitt, and Kim, 1994). Two such tactics include (1) changing or confusing
the tempo of the discussion and (2) fostering a decisionmaker’s feelings of
incompetence, fluster, or personal doubt. In a classic book on gamesmanship,
Potter writes about a tennis player who, after being served two or three aces
running, ties his shoelace in a prolonged manner, blows his nose for an extended
period, and wipes all signs of sweat off his forehead (Potter, 1948). This same
tactic can, of course, be used in complicated negotiations.
The key to gamesmanship is to keep the decisionmaker blind to one’s true
intentions (Potter, 1948). The moment the manipulation becomes transparent,
it becomes much less tactically promising. Thus, Potter wisely advises the
gamesperson to “shield” his or her behavior behind a clear situational rationale. In
the tennis example, the goal would be for the opponent to believe that the change
in his or her fortune was due not to the change in the game’s tempo, but to the
player’s change of racket or a variation in the wind.
Making Threats
Threats are messages about what we intend to do if the other person does not
comply with our demand. The general structure of a threat is: “Unless you do X,
I will hurt you.”
Threats are appealing for several reasons (Rubin, Pruitt, and Kim, 1994). First,
they impose no cost on the party making the threat. Indeed, as Thomas Schelling
pointed out, where brute force may cause resistance in others, the threat of such
force may succeed (1966). Second, threats have been experimentally shown to
work — often better than promises. Experimental evidence suggests that threats
are a credible form of influence (e.g., see Pruitt and Carnevale, 1993; Rubin and
Brown, 1975). Third, a threat can be withdrawn without incurring cost. A person
who withdraws a promise may be looked upon as untrustworthy, but a person who
withdraws a threat can be seen as humane. (In either case, however, judgments
still may be made about the person’s credibility.)
At the same time, threats carry one great risk: the counterthreat. A threat tends
to elicit reciprocal action in the other person. As early as 1960, experimental
research showed that threats lead to increased suspicion, resentment, and dislike,
in turn making counterthreats more likely (Deutsch and Krauss, 1960).

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Actions Away From the Negotiation Table
A second class of distributional moves is conducted away from the table,
independent of interaction with the other party. If used effectively, these moves can
significantly enhance a negotiator’s power. Two such moves include improving
one’s “BATNA” and making irrevocable commitments.
Improving Your BATNA
Negotiation power is largely defined by the strength of one’s alternatives to
negotiating. If negotiations with a counterpart should fail, what is one’s walk-away
alternative? The best alternative is known as the BATNA — Best Alternative To a
Negotiated Agreement (Fisher, Ury, and Patton, 1991). The better one’s BATNA,
the more power one has in a negotiation. It becomes easier to negotiate with
confidence, or to walk away from the negotiation without feeling confined by the
other party’s demands.
Negotiators can improve their BATNA by thinking carefully about it and
by brainstorming possible alternatives. Ultimately, a negotiator may decide that
his or her BATNA is not especially strong, an important realization that gives
the negotiator additional incentive to negotiate carefully and effectively, perhaps
accommodating more than would generally be wise.
Making an educated guess about the other side’s BATNA can help a negotiator
understand how strongly motivated the other party will be to reach agreement. If
their BATNA is poor, they might be amenable to many options. If their BATNA is
strong, they might decide to stand firm to reap maximal concessions. Sometimes
parties overestimate their BATNA; to improve leverage in this type of situation, a
negotiator might cast doubt on the strength of the other’s BATNA.
Negotiators often use time pressure to influence the behavior of another party,
yet this is only persuasive if the other party’s BATNA would worsen after the
deadline passes. If the BATNA is strong, time pressure is minimally persuasive.
Negotiators who use time pressure would also be well advised to keep their own
BATNA in mind, since a deadline for the other is also a deadline for themselves.
Making Irrevocable Commitments
Threats suggest a future action that one might take if the other party does
not comply with one’s demands. In contrast, an irrevocable commitment involves
an action that we have already begun (Rubin, Pruitt, and Kim, 1994). To avoid
being hurt by the action, the other party must change behavior. Schelling uses
the hypothetical example of two drivers speeding toward one another in a game
of “chicken,” each testing who will swerve off the road first. A driver could throw
the steering wheel out the window in full view of the other, thus creating an
irrevocable commitment (Schelling, 1960).
With an irrevocable commitment, the locus of control shifts from the actor
to the respondent, who now has the ability to stop an unwelcome event from
happening. For this reason, it is advisable that an educer using “irrevocable”
commitments actually have some way of reversing them, since it is quite possible

275

that the other party will refuse to act. In the game of chicken, for example, the
driver who supposedly threw the steering wheel out of the window might have
thrown a replica — and kept the real wheel out of view of the other driver.

Crafting a “Yesable Proposition”
Even when a negotiator has developed a good proposal that creates value and
distributes that value effectively, parties can fail to reach agreement because of
the manner in which the proposal is framed.
The Power of Framing
Framing can have a subtle but powerful impact on how the other side
perceives a proposal. For example, studies have found that negotiators instructed
to “minimize losses” rather than “maximize gains” were less likely to make
concessions, reach agreement, and view the resulting agreement as fair (Bazerman,
Magliozzi, and Neale, 1985; Neale and Northcraft, 1986; Neale, Huber, and
Northcraft, 1987).
The context in which a decision is framed can also affect how it is perceived.
One study found that participants would be willing to walk two blocks to save
$30 on a $70 watch, but not willing to walk that same distance to save $30 on an
$800 camera (Russo and Schoemaker 1989). Thirty dollars seems like a great deal
of money when compared to $70, but like a drop in the bucket when compared
to $800.
The identity of the person making the offer also influences its reception. A
study by Bazerman and Neale found that participants would be willing to pay
more for a bottle of beer they were told came from a fancy resort than for exactly
the same bottle supposedly from a run-down grocery store. Participants assumed
that the grocery store beer “is an obvious rip-off” (1992). Thus, it is important to
consider both who presents the offer and how it is presented.
Framing a “Yesable” Proposition
Ultimately, the question to ask is: What proposal would give the other side
an option they might accept? The choice would have to address their interests
sufficiently, be realistic, and be operational. By having a good sense of the other
party’s interests and BATNA, a negotiator can craft such an offer, which is called
a “yesable proposition” (Fisher, Kopelman, and Schneider, 1994): it requires only
a “yes” in response.
Rather than confronting the other party with a problem, a yesable proposition
gives them an appealing offer. Consider a simple example. President Lyndon
Johnson instructed his staff to attach a proposal, and a set of boxes for him to
check “yes,” “no,” or “see me,” to any memo that crossed his desk. Johnson
understood the idea behind a yesable proposition: he required his staff to bring
him not only a problem, but also a suggestion for what could be done.
Two tools are useful in developing a yesable proposition: the Currently
Perceived Choice chart and the Target Future Choice chart.

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Currently Perceived Choice (CPC) chart
The Currently Perceived Choice (CPC) chart provides an easy way to
assess how the other side might perceive the offer currently on the table (Fisher,
Kopelman, and Schneider, 1994). Using the chart, negotiators can clarify whom
they are trying to influence, what decisions the other person faces, and the pros
and cons of the decision from that person’s perspective. For example, the table
below illustrates how Iraqi President Saddam Hussein might have perceived his
choices about whether or not to withdraw Iraqi troops from Kuwait in 1991. As
the chart makes clear, there were good reasons why he refused. (Whether we
agree with his motivation and behavior is another issue altogether.)

Case: Saddam Hussein, Early February 1991
“Shall I now say I will withdraw from Kuwait?”

Consequences if I say YES

Consequences if I say NO

– The bombing may continue

+ I stand up to the United States

– The blockade may continue

+ I keep my options open for better
terms from the U.N

– I yield to a U.S. ultimatum

+ I can fight indefinitely and hope to
outlast the United States

– Israel may still attack as retaliation + I can always agree later
for the Scud missile
– I look weak

+ I look strong

– I lose credibility in the Arab world

+ I am a hero to many Arabs

– The United States will make new + I can continue to defy Western will
demands such as compensate Kuwait, by creating more oil spills and setting
the Gulf on fire
compensate hostages, destroy Iraqi
military, change the regime, accept
war crimes trial
– I may be hanged as a war criminal

+ Dying a martyr is better than dying a
war criminal
BUT
– The war and blockade may continue

Currently Perceived Choice Chart. Source: Derived by the author from Roger
Fisher and others, “How Do You End a War?,” The Boston Globe, 8 February 1991.
Because negotiators rarely represent only their individual interests, they
must consider not only how the other side will perceive a particular proposal but
also how their constituencies would view the outcome (Mnookin, Peppet, and
Tulumello, 2000). Even seemingly irrational actors such as Saddam Hussein play
to constituents. Framing a proposal in a way that allows the other side to save
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face or, better yet, improve their standing with their constituency, can increase the
likelihood that it will be accepted.
Target Future Choice Chart (TFC)
A related tool, the Target Future Choice (TFC) chart, can help to identify how
the other side might perceive a proposal in order to accept it. To derive such a
target future choice, the negotiator must work backwards, initially defining the
consequences believed to be necessary for the decision maker to say yes rather
than no (Fisher, Kopelman, and Schneider, 1994). The table below illustrates the
basic elements of a persuasive target future choice.

General Example
“Shall I now accept the X plan?”

Consequences if I say YES

Consequences if I say NO

+ My personal standing is secure

– I will be subjected to some criticism

+ I can easily justify the decision to my – The problem will not go away
constituents
+ I will not be seen as backing down

– It is likely to get worse

+ The action is reasonably consistent
with our principles and
past statements

– I will miss a fading opportunity

+ It will not set a bad precedent
+ All things considered, it is a
constructive step for dealing
with this problem
+ We still keep many of our future
options open
BUT
– Some hardliners will criticize me

BUT
+ Some hardliners will no doubt
support me

Future Target Choice of a Decision Maker. Source: Roger Fisher and others,
Beyond Machiavelli: Tools for Coping with Conflict (Boston: Harvard University
Press, 1994), 58. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
A well-framed offer allows the decision maker to understand both the benefits
of accepting the proposal immediately and the costs of inaction (for instance, as
a result of missing a deadline by which the offer had to be accepted). An offer
can be made more appealing if it is partially implemented from the outset. Car
salespeople use this technique all the time when they offer a customer a car and
hand him or her the keys to hold.

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Improving the Negotiating Relationship
During a negotiation, negative emotions can get in the way of easy two-way
communication. Negative emotions are often products of an adversarial relational
structure between parties. In recent years, researchers have made significant strides
in understanding the structure of negotiating relationships and how to shape those
relationships to enable Pareto-optimal outcomes. As a result, negotiators have
new tools to elicit emotions that can serve their negotiating purpose.
One major advance has been to link the concepts of identity and relationship.
In any negotiating relationship, people care about their perceived identity vis-àvis their negotiating counterpart (i.e., “what I think others think about me”). In this
sense, a negotiator’s identity is largely relational (Shapiro, 2002): people interact
differently with different people. In a relationship with an aggressive person a
negotiator may feel tense and resentful, and thus act in certain ways to spite the
other person. In a relationship with a soft-spoken person, that same negotiator may
feel emotions of connection and act in ways that support the relationship. This
insight — that the structure of the interaction shapes each negotiator’s identity
— has important practical consequences.
One’s Relational Identity Can Constrain or Facilitate a Good Outcome
One’s negotiating purpose is not always served by one’s “relational identity”
(Shapiro, 2002). Nor is one’s negotiating purpose always served by the resulting
emotional, cognitive, and behavioral consequences for each party. A negotiator
may fail to speak up when it would be wise to do so, or may act more cautiously
than suits his or her interests.
By understanding the dimensions that comprise relational identity, negotiators
can better calibrate behavior to best serve their negotiating purpose. One’s
“relational identity” consists of two main dimensions: autonomy and affiliation
(see Shapiro 2002 for a review of research on these dimensions). Autonomy is
the freedom to make a decision without that decision’s being imposed (Averill
and Nunley, 1992; Fisher and Shapiro, 2005). Research suggests that constrained
autonomy leads to resistance, negative emotions, and a lack of cooperation
(Brehm, 1966; Fisher and Shapiro, 2005). One explanation for why sources
resist disclosing information is that they feel that demands to reveal information
impinge upon their autonomy. Affiliation is a sense of personal connection, the
opposite of rejection. A party who feels rejected is likely to resist cooperation.
The feeling of rejection, in fact, stimulates the same part of the brain as physical
pain (Eisenberger, N., Lieberman, M., and Williams, K., 2003), which helps to
explain why trivial acts of exclusion often elicit strong emotional responses from
the excluded party. Conversely, a positive affiliation tends to stimulate positive
emotions and mutual cooperation.
Capitalizing on People’s Emotional Reactions
Research suggests that positive emotions have particular utility in a
negotiation (See Fisher and Shapiro, 2005). They improve the likelihood of a
Pareto-optimal agreement; they expand people’s ability to trust and to think
279

creatively; they improve the likelihood of a stable agreement; and they make
open communication easier and more likely.
How can a negotiator capitalize on the power of emotions? In the book Beyond
Reason: Using Emotions as You Negotiate, Fisher and Shapiro offer five “core
concerns” that can be used to stimulate positive emotions: autonomy, affiliation,
appreciation, status, and role. These five core concerns represent a practical
expansion of the relational identity framework discussed above. Each concern
can be used to build rapport and stimulate positive emotions, thus encouraging
cooperative behavior. The actions that correlate with each core concern are, in
simple form: (1) respect the other’s autonomy, (2) build affiliation, (3) express
appreciation, (4) acknowledge status where merited, and (5) help parties build
a fulfilling role. A significant amount of research has substantiated each of these
actions (e.g., see Fisher and Shapiro, 2005).
Using Emotions Does Not Mean Acquiescing
Some people argue that enlisting positive emotions into a negotiation will
put a negotiator at a disadvantage. Common fears are that the negotiator will look
weak and submissive or will be more inclined to “give in” to the demands of the
other party. These are serious concerns. However, these problems are reduced
significantly for the skilled negotiator who uses not only emotions, but also the
tools of reasoning to make wise decisions. For example, the skilled negotiator
will not agree to a decision that departs from some standard of legitimacy, as
discussed earlier in this paper.

Summary
This paper provides an overview of some of the key strategic approaches to
negotiation that an information educer might adapt for use: expanding the pie,
dividing the pie, framing an offer, and improving the negotiating relationship.
The author leaves open the question of tailoring these strategies to the challenging
circumstances of information eduction and would welcome the opportunity to
explore such topics with experts in the field.

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Appendix
Contrasting Approaches to Negotiation: Adversarial vs. Interest-based
ELEMENT

ADVERSARIAL

INTEREST-BASED

Alternatives

Threaten to inflict pain
“Talk, or else!”

Improve your Best Alternative To
a Negotiated
Agreement (BATNA)
Weaken their BATNA
“You have a choice. I’d
like to talk openly about
things with you. And
I’ve got a colleague
just outside this door
waiting to go a different
route. I don’t want that.
It’s your choice.”

Interests

Debate over positions
“I will not tell
you anything.”
“Yes, you will!”

Look beneath positions to
interests
“What’s holding you
back from giving us
information?”

Options

Bargain over two
options: whether or not
the source will tell you
information

Invent multiple options without
evaluating them

Legitimacy

Battle of wills
“Tell us what
you know.”
“No.”
“We demand
you tell us.”
“NO!”

Persuade on the basis of external
standards of legitimacy
The basic message:
“There are legitimate
reasons why you can
reveal information to
us…”

(Continued on next page)

281

282

283

Commitments

Commit to telling no or
minimal information

Commitments

Talk at one another
Talk with one another
“We will tell you
What questions can
what to tell us.
we ask to learn more?
And you had
How can we ask open
better tell us!”
questions rather than
presumptive, closedended questions?

Relationship

Treat one another as joint
Treat one another as
problem solvers
adversaries
“We have a shared
From educer’s
problem. Let’s think
perspective:
Interrogator vs.
through how to deal
with this. The more
accused
we are able to work
together, the sooner
From source’s
both of us can go home.”
perspective:
harasser vs.
victim

284

Consider the “4 Ps” : What is our
purpose for negotiating, what is
an efficient process, who are the
relevant people to include, and
what is our desired product? To
what can we realistically and
practically commit?

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9
Negotiation Theory and Educing Information:
Practical Concepts and Tools
M.P. Rowe, Ph.D.
February 2006

Abstract
Negotiation theory represents a systematic way of thinking by which one can
understand and plan for all human interactions – including educing information (EI). This paper offers basic tools from negotiation theory for possible
discussion by those concerned with EI. We briefly present several standard
ideas: a discussion of different possible strategies for EI, a brief discussion of
the sources of power available to educers and sources, and then suggestions
about preparation for EI. (Educers may already be using the ideas included
here.)
This paper offers standard ideas generated by individuals who have extensive
experience in difficult interpersonal negotiations but no experience in EI.
Our overview of one way to think about preparing for EI includes:
• Taking note of the relevant parties whose interests are at stake;
• Discovering – or at least developing working hypotheses about – the
tangible and intangible interests of each party;
• Evaluating the sources of power available to each side in EI;
• Developing relevant options for interrogation and “fallback” options;
• Planning strategy, style, and sequencing of tactics with the EI team;
• Planning the role of each member of a team (for example, intake and
preliminary assessment, interrogation, analysis behind the scenes, integration of data into and from the relevant intelligence community database, ongoing evaluation and guidance to educers and to the users of information,
and collection of records that can be analyzed for improved knowledge and
practice).

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Introduction
Any interaction between two or more points of view can be seen and analyzed
as a “negotiation.”
Negotiation includes personal and professional interactions — for example,
one can theoretically even “negotiate with oneself.” Applying the tools of
negotiation theory can make almost all human interactions more effective. We
offer some standard ideas in negotiation theory to those concerned with educing
information (EI), in the hope that these tools may help in eliciting useful and
accurate information from a source.687
Negotiation theory encompasses far more than the tools presented here.
Other aspects that might also be pursued include the role of emotions, the role of
“constituencies” on each side, the use of coalitions by each side, the use of implicit
and explicit threats, the theory and practice of “sequencing” tactics, etc.
Little, if any, operationally useful negotiation literature relates to educing
information from uncooperative sources. EI “negotiations” in any case fall outside
the usual purview of negotiations experts. Parties involved in EI may have very
different interests, sets of knowledge or lack of knowledge, and perceptions of
what is important and even what is real: in short, wide differences in culture as
well as language. The interaction may involve one or more translators. In some
cases even the identity and first language of a source may be unknown. Each side
may be away from home and under great stress. Sources may be highly dissimilar,
which may add to the challenge of building expertise in EI. The patterns of
power and powerlessness of each of the parties in EI interactions, as identified in
“negotiations” terms below, may appear unusual for both parties. (As an example,
a detained source may seem “powerless,” but a source who is prepared to commit
suicide has a very powerful last resort or “fallback” position. In addition, if the
need for information is very urgent and the United States has a tight deadline, the
U.S. interrogator has less negotiating power.)
The contributors to this paper have extensive experience with the theory
and practice of negotiation, but no actual experience or firsthand knowledge of
U.S. interrogation practices and activities. This paper therefore simply offers
ideas from negotiation theory and experience for possible discussion by people
concerned with EI activities and EI research.
The paper does not prescribe any one “negotiation strategy” for EI. It sets
forth a “negotiations way of thinking” about EI: a way of thinking that, in fact,
considers many strategies. (This way of thinking may — or may not — have
been used intuitively by individuals in intelligence, military, or law enforcement
communities who conduct interviews and interrogations with detained persons.)
We present some standard tools in negotiation theory and then apply them to the

687
We will use the term “sources” (or “detainees”) to indicate persons from whom information is
sought, and use male pronouns on the assumption that most are male.

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idea of preparation for EI, in the hope that the ideas may help in eliciting useful
and accurate information.
This paper addresses three imperatives, each discussed in a separate section.
•

Consider Multiple Strategies: It would appear that U.S. interests require
preparing to use more than one “strategy” in EI. A single strategy, like
trying physically to force a source to talk or trying only to buy information,
is not likely to be effective in negotiations. Tactics and strategies can be
developed uniquely for each source, with a menu or sequence of options
relevant to that person, rather than “trying” tactics on an unplanned basis.
This section lays out a way of thinking about strategies.

•

Analyze Sources of Power: Analysis of the “sources of power available
to each party in negotiations” may be helpful. As mentioned above,
sources may have considerable, sometimes unanticipated, power in an EI
negotiation. The United States, however, may be able to develop power
in EI, for example, by pulling together many sources of information, by
preparation and expertise in interrogation, by building credibility, and
even by “recruitment” of sources who can provide information.

•

Prepare, Prepare, Prepare — for Each Source: In this section we apply
the theoretical ideas presented earlier. Negotiation theory suggests that it
would be important for an educer to learn as much as possible about 1)
specific information needed by the United States, and also the interests of
relevant persons on the U.S. side, and 2) the individual source, his likely
knowledge and sensibilities, and how he might contribute, and also about
his individual interests. The interests of each side will include tangibles
and intangibles.

Strategies in Negotiation
To lay the groundwork for thinking about negotiation and EI, we discuss a
range of negotiation strategies. Some of these strategies are intended positively;
others are punitive. Positive strategies include both competition and collaboration
(which is a search for “joint gains”). Punitive strategies, on the other hand, intend
injury to another person or intend injury to oneself. The distinction is important
for EI. The goal of EI is to get accurate and useful information to serve U.S.
interests, which may often be possible with “positive” strategies. The immediate
goal of negative strategies is to injure the other party, which is not the goal of EI.
Positive Strategies
Negotiation theory has traditionally included a scheme of five possible
strategies for conduct of interpersonal and business interactions: competition,
collaboration, accommodation, compromise, and avoidance. We call these
strategies “positive” because none is specifically intended to harm another person.
In teaching about negotiations, these strategies are often introduced with a famous
(imaginary) situation in which two persons, A and B, are fighting over a single
orange. Both take the “position” that they must have the whole orange. We are

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first told that A and B have construed the interaction as a zero sum game, where
the gain of one is the loss of the other. For readers who think graphically, this
situation is illustrated by the following graphs.688

The graph is labeled to represent the perspective of person A. At the
competition point, A gets the whole orange. At A’s accommodation point, B gets
the whole orange. (A’s accommodation point would be B’s competition point if
the graph were labeled from the perspective of B). The orange is split equally
between the two at the compromise point (see dotted lines showing how much of
the orange goes to A and how much to B).
To illustrate the meaning of the collaboration point, the story changes to
illustrate that two people may not actually want exactly the same thing. We are
now told that A in fact wanted the orange peel for a cake, and B wanted the
juice of the orange; therefore, both could get all of what they wanted once they
dropped their positions and discovered their real “interests.” In negotiation theory
the word “interests” has come to mean the whole set of tangibles and intangibles
that an individual actually wants in an interaction. Interests are both short-term
and long-term in nature, and they may also change in the course of a negotiation.
It is rare for two sides to consider only “one and the same” interest, so there is
often room for some degree of collaboration. Collaboration may work for both,
whether they like each other or not.
Tangibles
Negotiation strategies are often wrongly presumed to be only about “tangible
things” of value, often discussed as a “pie.” (Will I try to take the whole pie? Can
I expand the pie by finding things in addition to the pie on the table — things that

688
The first and second graphs which follow are adapted from the work of Kenneth W. Thomas,
“Conflict and Conflict Management,” in the Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology,
ed. Marvin Dunnette (Chicago: Rand McNally, 1976). The specific construction of these graphs and
the adaptation included as the third graph are the work of the present author. The seminal work on
strategies in negotiations that underlies the presentation in this paper is that of R.E. Walton and R.B.
McKersie, A Behavioral Theory of Labor Negotiations: An Analysis of a Social Interaction System
(New York: McGraw-Hill, 1965).

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will be of value to the other person — and thus be able to share more value? Give
up the pie? Split the pie 50:50?) Negotiations are sometimes inappropriately seen
as a “game” or as “war,” therefore about winning and losing — and about winning
or losing things.
Intangibles
In fact many negotiations are about respect, information, the wish to be
“heard,” expertise, access to friends or colleagues, the long-term reputation of a
person or country, etc. The interaction between the negotiators itself often becomes
— for good or ill — an intangible “part of” a negotiation. For example, a person
may feel respected or disrespected in a way that influences the outcome in a first
encounter and over the long term. In an EI case, the educer could possibly prompt
more cooperation by invoking intangibles, and can certainly make matters worse
by arousing more hatred. (The educer could make the situation worse in the short
term, with one source, or in the long term, with everyone who identifies with the
source.)
It follows that in planning an EI strategy negotiators might also wish to plan
their style. Because negotiators may exhibit a style that is interpreted differently
than they intend, this topic requires planning as well as training, self-discipline,
and practice as a negotiations professional.
One might sometimes plan a style that is not the same as the strategy. For
example, the negotiator might feel very unfriendly toward a given source but
decide to treat the person with “strategic” or “purposeful” respect. In fact, much
training in negotiations emphasizes the importance of preparing to behave
strategically in a way that conveys respect (or behaving in a way that is perceived
as respectful), which is seen as an “intangible” interest of likely value to the
recipient and one that the negotiator can offer at little or no cost.
It is in fact hard to imagine circumstances where it is theoretically sound to
plan to humiliate a source, at least if there is ever to be more than one meeting with
that person. Negotiation theory and practice suggest that deliberate humiliation
is a potent cause of destructive and vengeful motivations and behavior — for an
individual source and for all those who identify with him. Thus, even where the
strategy is that of “forcing” a source, or putting him in fear, it does not follow
that it is wise to do so disrespectfully or in a manner calculated to humiliate
him. Humiliation is not the same as forcing someone to do something. Experience
suggests that humiliation causes many people to develop deeper rage and hatred
than physical pain does. Before considering authorization of humiliation as a
tactic in EI, it would be worthwhile to find out if any convincing research evidence
attests to the effectiveness of this tactic.
Interests vs. Positions
The story of the orange illustrates the reality that the “interests” of different
people, as opposed to their “positions,” may differ in ways that permit collaborative
solutions that benefit both A and B more than the results of pure competition. As
another example, A and B might each present the same initial “position” about a

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house, namely, that they want to settle, by June 1, on A’s sale (and B’s purchase)
of A’s house. If they share their interests about the timing of the sale, and discover
that A wants to move the furniture on September 1 and that B does not really want
to occupy the house until September 5, they can find a collaborative solution that
is better for both of them than a June 1 purchase and sale. Each has the security of
an agreement that the house will be sold (or available), and each will be happier
during the summer. Each has gained something tangible and something intangible,
whether they like or dislike each other.
On the graph below, the dotted line box includes solutions that are better than
a compromise for both A and B in a negotiation between them. These include
possible trade-offs between things that A wants and some different things that B
wants. Collaborative solutions, where there are “joint gains,” depend on A and B
wanting somewhat different things so that the negotiation need not be a zero sum
(win-lose) game. Most human interactions are not a zero sum (win-lose) game,
indeed not a “game” at all. In the realm of EI, for example, the United States
wants information. There may be tangibles or intangibles of interest to the source
that would permit a trade for information, whether we like or despise this person.

Moving Among the Positive Strategies
Negotiation theory suggests that A may interact with B in any — and often
all — of five ways in any one negotiation. Much of negotiation theory and
considerable research have focused on these five strategies, sometimes looking at
them separately (e.g., Getting to Yes or Win All You Can). However, there are very
few negotiations where one would choose — or even be able — to employ only
one strategy. Most well-planned negotiations include a mix of strategies.
Most negotiations involve elements of competition (I want to stake out my
requirements early here and I may demand a bit extra for “bargaining room”),
some collaboration (I would like to hear your interests and see if there is some
way to meet them), some avoidance (Some conflicts are not worth thinking about,
at least not right now), some accommodation (I am happy just to let you have
what you want on that point) and a good deal of compromise (At the end of the
day, let us just split the difference). Much theoretical work in negotiation centers
on managing the important tension between competition and collaboration (Do I

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want to try to get as much as I can in just one brief encounter, or is there short- or
long-term value in building some degree of credibility for future, operationally
useful interactions with the other person?)
In most negotiations, as in most human interactions, it is important to have
the ability to move back and forth from collaborative phases to competitive phases
and vice versa. The circumstances in which one might rationally pursue a purely
competitive strategy would be:
•

One knows one will never see the other person, or anyone from his “tribe,”
again, and

•

One believes that it is actually possible to meet one’s own interests, using
only competitive tactics, in one interaction or time period, and

•

There is nothing else that might later be gained in future interactions with
the person or his “tribe.”

These circumstances are rare. In real life one usually sees the other person
again, or one sees his fellow countrymen. It is rare to have no long-term interests
and to obtain all of what one wants in one interaction. Pure (win-lose) competition
on its own is usually not “rational”; one needs to be able to combine and move
among strategies.
We can look at the task of EI through this lens. The purpose of EI is for
one party — the United States — to gain accurate and useful information from
the other party — the source. If the source does not want to give part or all of
this information (a point that the interrogator cannot know before the negotiation
begins) then this EI appears to be a competitive situation. It might, however,
be possible to begin with some compromise elements, for example by asking
first about matters that are relatively easy for the source to discuss. Moreover,
the source might be willing to give information that does not threaten his own
interests — an accommodative possibility on his part that should be explored
early and throughout the process of EI. And we have just begun the analysis.
May there be something to trade, such as creature comforts, the circumstances
of the EI, “respectful listening,” or plans for release? Are there large or small
collaborative possibilities involving the source’s family, friends, or future plans?
Can the United States possibly recruit this source for the future?
We will not know unless we begin to learn the relevant interests of the parties
— a task which is required for all strategies. Some information about the interests
of the source may be available from a central database. Learning the interests of
a source on the spot is most likely to happen through a process that negotiation
theory calls “building trust” or “relationship.” In the context of EI this might
mean building a “strategically useful connection,” credibility, and believability,
perhaps by members of the EI team as well as by the individual educer.
Negative Strategies
The practice of negotiation can also involve negative strategies, which
include the intention to injure the other person. U.S. interests in EI are to obtain

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information, rather than to harm the source. However, the real interests of the
source may be to harm the United States and its representatives — and in so doing
he might even accept injury to himself or even affirmatively wish to be harmed.
Dealing with the possibility that an individual source intends harm to the
United States is particularly complicated, in part because we do not know what
a specific person intends until we design and implement a plan to find out — or
until the person acts. But even where the source is focused on harming the United
States, it does not follow that a reciprocal, negative strategy on the part of the
United States will be an effective way to acquire useful information from him.
There has been little research on how to convince an individual B, who wishes
to injure A, to become willing to collaborate (especially when B is willing to
accept or even seek injury to himself). Convincing a person to relinquish vengeful
interests, or to override the desire for revenge, is difficult. This is in part because
the wish to injure often derives from intangibles, and especially from perceived
humiliation. (My people and I have been humiliated. The United States is a sinful
state that must be brought to its knees. God wishes me to take revenge on His
enemies.)
Tangible losses can sometimes be dealt with more easily, by providing tangible
incentives to cooperate. If someone is “tangibly” harmed (I hit his car) it may be
relatively easy to negotiate a restitution with money. If someone is emotionally
harmed, or believes that someone close to him has been harmed or humiliated, the
path to dealing with that person’s “real interests” may be more complicated, and it
may be impossible to “buy him off” with money or creature comforts.
In addition, much of negotiations research has dealt with “tangible things of
positive value,” whereas wanting to injure someone or a nation is an intangible
(hard to see, understand, label, discuss, and quantify) and lies in a negative zone.
Thus, convincing a vengeful person to cooperate may require a change of attitude
on his part, all the way from very negative to positive, and may call for offering
intangibles of value. The next figure illustrates this graphically:

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Nevertheless, we know anecdotally that it is not impossible to convince
another person to change at least a little, even from a negative strategy, usually
by causing that person to doubt much of what he thought he knew (in this case
before capture). This would make it all the more important for the United States
to use trained educers who could plan (with their team) strategies that would be
as effective as possible in changing some of the source’s views about offering
information. Part of this plan might involve offering intangibles to try to make
things better and at least not make them worse.

Sources of Power in Negotiation Theory
Different theorists have compiled slightly different lists of “sources of power”
in negotiation, but they are all short lists. That is, there is only a finite number of
kinds of negotiation power. Some sources of power explored in this section are
associated with potential collaboration: building respect or at least credibility, using
charisma and moral authority effectively, and offering rewards. Some sources of
power are associated with competition: taking away alternative options from the
other person, using sanctions, and employing commitment power (persistence
in the negotiation until the source gives in). Some are associated with punitive
strategies: the use of force or putting someone in fear, extreme use of commitment
power, and attempts to deprive the other person of any alternative options.
Many questions about the ethics of negotiation relate to uses of power, and
people disagree profoundly about when and how various sources of power should
be used. It is not the purpose of this paper to discuss the ethical issues. However,
with respect to all controversial EI methods it would seem reasonable at least
to know if any of the controversial methods can be proven to be more effective,
compared with other methods, in eliciting accurate and useful information. Any
known use of any sources of power in EI, especially in cross-cultural EI, might
therefore be studied for short- and long-term effectiveness.
Legitimate Authority
Legitimate or positional authority recognized by the other person is a
commonly acknowledged form of power. However, in EI, a detainee might
not recognize his captor as a legitimate authority for the purposes of sharing
information or for any other purpose. He might see a relevant religious leader as
a source of legitimate authority, which may hurt the interests of the United States
if the leader speaks against the United States, or might help if a relevant religious
leader were to condemn terrorism. A detainee might also recognize another highly
placed detainee as a legitimate authority, which may hurt the interests of the United
States, or might conceivably be used to help the process of EI if that highly placed
source became willing to cooperate. In order to sow doubt in the mind of a source
about previous beliefs it might be helpful to consider any possible “legitimate
authority” that might help to persuade him to share information.
An attempt to presume “legitimate authority” can be used against the interests
of the United States. For example, if sources believe they are being held “unjustly”

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their beliefs about the “illegality” of their confinement might stiffen their resolve
not to talk.
Rewards and Sanctions
Rewards and sanctions are used very commonly, and in many contexts, as
sources of power in eliciting information. In EI, many tangible and intangible
rewards and sanctions could be explored, from the beginning to the end of the EI
process. These might include rewards and sanctions that affect the conditions of
detention, the reputation and status of the source, positive and negative effects on
the source’s family and friends, and respect for religion.
In negotiation theory, and in many cultures, an important element of rewards
relates to reciprocity. We know that many people expect a concession to be
reciprocated by some other concession: if we offer something the other person
“should” reciprocate, and vice versa. Thus, if the source offers information the
educer “should” consider reciprocity. EI might therefore include planning for
reciprocal rewards (and sanctions). For example, the process of negotiation
itself might be seen as a ”reward” to the source — a positive gesture that costs
little or nothing. It could begin with apparently small tangibles and intangibles:
where will the EI discussion take place? Will there be food, and time for religious
observance? How will the discussions be conducted? And, especially, could these
points be negotiated with the source in a manner that might, in and of itself, help
to build some credibility, some “connection,” and a sense of “strategic respect?”
Force, and Threats of Force
Interrogators around the world have used force, and threats of force, as
sources of power, probably achieving occasional short-term and long-term gains.
The use of force by the United States may also have caused short and long-term
damage to U.S. interests and credibility, some of which may not be known.
Negotiation theory would suggest that threats should be planned strategically:
threats should be appropriate to the task, appropriately timed, and believable. It
would seem that the use of force or threats of force might best be used only as
part of careful strategic planning, with careful attention to possible positive and
negative consequences — for getting accurate and useful information, and for the
long-term interests of the United States. It is hoped that any such use would be
evaluated for effectiveness.
EI may be an unusually difficult task to accomplish by physical force. It
appears easier to stop someone by force from talking than to compel speech —
especially accurate and truthful speech. (The nature of the “negotiation” of forcing
someone to talk is inherently problematic, unless the interrogator knows enough
facts to know when the source is lying or that his information is inaccurate.)
Using force, with the intent to stop the use of force if and when a source is
willing to talk, might present difficulties for both parties in understanding what the
other party may do. How would the educer know when to stop? What does the use
of force do to the judgment of the person who uses it? On the other side, a source

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might worry about “How much is enough?” and “Can I trust this interrogator to
stop hurting me if I agree to talk?”
In fact, the interrogator who uses physical force may lack believability for
any other strategy. The very nature of the use of physical force would seem to
undermine the likelihood of useful connection with a source beyond the immediate
sessions. It might also increase a source’s hatred of the United States and interest
in suicide or willingness to be killed. So-called “restrained forcing” might be
worthy of study in EI.
The fear of injury, and implicit and explicit threats of the use of force against
a source or his family and friends, could also be problematic. (Putting a person in
fear may be interpreted as intending harm, even though it may in fact be intended
as an alternative to actual harm.) However, careful research might show that fear
is sometimes effective.
Sources may have received training to resist EI, but the training might
not necessarily “take hold” immediately after capture, especially for an
unsophisticated captive. There may be a period after capture when fear of injury
and/or disorientation (keeping someone “off base”) might lead a source to begin
to talk. A source might even be able to save face among his peers if he could later
claim that he was immediately in great fear of injury. (Educers might consider
using “good cop/bad cop” [or, more accurately, “bad cop/good cop”] tactics with
those who have just been captured.)
Educers must remember that the use of physical force against sources —
especially forms of coercion that are claimed to be illegal — may also be used
against the United States. For example, others might then find it easier to mistreat
our own troops.
Information Power
Accurate information, especially information about the real interests and
knowledge of the specific source, appears essential in every strategy. All strategies
require checking of educed information for accuracy and usefulness. Information
power may be the most important source of power in EI.
Negotiation theory suggests that it is vital for educers to learn even small
things about the individual source before interrogation so that they can plan
a strategy and the uses of various forms of power. For example, data may be
available from a central database, or “intake” members of the EI team might be
able to learn something about the interests of a source (theory suggests that the
real “negotiation” with the source will begin at the first meeting with the first
member of the team). Negotiation practice would also suggest the importance of
(seen or unseen) observers and analysts available to peruse the results of every
interrogation session — in part to integrate what is learned, in part to affirm
established ethical guidelines, in part to monitor effectiveness, and in part to
prepare for the next EI session.

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How and when an interrogator would share information with a source is
likely to be important, partly in building a “strategic connection” and believability,
and partly in encouraging honesty and forestalling deception. “Sequencing” is
therefore another issue that deserves further study. Bluffing and deceiving
(the source) are two classic topics of negotiation theory that EI research could
evaluate. Another topic deserving study is any past use of imparting information
or misinformation to a source who was set free.
In thinking about EI, one would imagine getting information from a source
to send to some central agency where the information can be combined with
information from other sources. A negotiations theorist would also assume that
information should continuously come to the educer from other agencies to keep
improving the EI process.
Negotiation theory has for decades examined the pivotal role of the
“constituencies” behind the parties. How information is communicated from
the EI team to the final user, and from the intelligence community that collates
many sources of information back to the EI team, would therefore seem to be an
important topic for review. How information is communicated (if at all) among
the source and fellow detainees and fellow countrymen would also be important
if this could be studied.
Information power is of course widely used against the interests of the
United States, for example, if terrorists effectively prepare sources to resist EI
tactics. Sources may also plan, or be instructed, to use misinformation against
U.S. interests.
Expertise
Expertise, especially expertise in the language, values, culture, ways of
thinking and interests of the source and his people, would seem essential as a
source of power. For example, such expertise is probably vital to the ability to
convey respect for the source’s religious beliefs. To change somebody’s mind
about giving information — in negotiation theory, moving his point of resistance
to giving information — the educer may need to “sow doubt” in the source’s mind
as to the validity of his views about talking. An EI team also would need expertise
about the beliefs of a source to assess the effectiveness of various EI tactics in
persuading sources to give useful information.
Expertise in the process of EI will be vital to plan and implement a course
of action appropriate to each source. Expertise and preparation in resisting EI
may also be widely used against U.S. interests, and educers should therefore
understand the techniques that might be used.
Elegant Solutions
Elegant solutions are a source of power in which a negotiator who has come
to understand the real interests of a source or a group of sources crafts deals
in which certain information may be exchanged for certain benefits — deals to
which the source and the United States can both say “yes.” For example the deal

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might require the source to offer information in return for a reliable agreement to
conceal the source’s identity or to provide certain things of value to that person
or his family. (Note that this kind of deal requires the United States to be able to
build a certain kind of credibility; namely, that the United States can be trusted
to honor the deal.)
Commitment Power
Commitment power is the power of persistence in negotiation. In an extreme
form, it means that the interrogator will never relent, in the hope that the source
will “give up,” cede control over his life, and then provide information (Abandon
hope, all ye who enter here.) Commitment power may sometimes be effective, or
appear effective, in getting people to say something, but it carries with it a possible
downside: taking away options from people may also incite rage, recalcitrance,
and a permanent rejection of more positive tactics that might later be used. (This
is one of the many reasons to consider negotiating over apparently small details,
such as where and how EI sessions will be conducted, in order to mitigate the
source’s pain of feeling that he has lost control over his life. It might motivate an
educer to “let up” sometimes in an interrogation, and just to listen.) Pragmatically
speaking, some uses of commitment power might also pose legal difficulties for
the United States.
Commitment power can of course also be used against the interests of the
United States. For example, a source may simply refuse to speak, or may provoke
someone to kill him. The source who uses commitment power against the educer
may at the least incite weariness, acute frustration, and rage.
There is a classic negotiations question about dealing with mistakes in
use of commitment power: how to help the other person, or oneself, give up a
commitment, or change one’s position, without losing face. This would appear to
be an essential element of EI — how to help the source give information and still
save face. It could also happen that the educing team fails badly in some tactic,
but the negotiation must continue. How might the United States proceed without
losing face?
As noted above, one possible way for a source not to lose face is for him to be
able to convince his peers that he was in extreme fear. (It does not follow that he
need actually have been injured.) However, there is also a classic list of alternatives,
which includes discovery of “new facts,” a change in the “rules,” appeal to a
new “authority,” or the appointment of a new negotiator. These methods might
occasionally be useful if an educer needs to reposition the discussion — to use
“new facts hitherto unknown to the source,” or to declare that some aspect of EI
has changed “due to new orders,” or to send in a new interrogator (for apparently
extraneous reasons but actually to improve the “chemistry” between educer and
source).
Another classic method to help a source save face is simply to ignore a
previous commitment as if it had never existed. For example, the educer might
behave as though the source had never taken an oath that he would never talk; this

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tactic might work if the source will not be returned to a camp with other detainees.
Another classic method is for the educer to appeal strategically to a fairly good
“connection” at an appropriate point (“I am hoping that you might be willing after
all these weeks to tell me X, for the sake of our relationship — if I have to tell my
boss I have failed, I will be in serious trouble.”) and for the educer then to grant
something of value to the source, “because of our relationship.”
Relationship Power
Emotions, like all sources of power, can play positive or negative roles with
respect to the interests of the United States. Making enemies, especially needlessly,
may worsen the situation of the United States with the individual source and
with his countrymen. In fact, educers should always consider the possibilities for
building some “chemistry” or a “strategic connection.” In this mode the educer
would think of “recruiting” the source. Establishing some minimum respect
between educer and source would likely be a prerequisite for elegant solutions
and deals and also for recruiting agents, changing the mind of the occasional
source, building an atmosphere where sources let down their guard with people
planted in their midst, and so on.
Negotiation theorists and experienced interrogators could be misunderstood
when they use terms such as “relationship,” “trust,” “interpersonal chemistry,”
“positive emotions,” or “rapport.” These terms seem to imply making friends with
an enemy. Nevertheless, the “strategic connection” between a particular source
and a particular interrogator is likely to be essential to effective EI. Strategic
respect and building credibility may be important, especially in those cases where
there could be some on-going interactions or where saving face for the source or
the United States is at issue. Believability is important for the use of rewards or
threats.
Moral Authority and Charisma
Moral authority and charisma are important sources of power in the present
conflict with terrorists. Consistently and effectively conveying respect for the
customs and religion of a source might on occasion be a prerequisite to sowing
doubt in the source’s political belief system. As noted previously, moral authority
may also be used with great effect against the interests of the United States: to
recruit people willing to use violence, persuade sources not to speak, and so on.
Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA) or “Fallback
Position”
Having a BATNA is a source of power, and the lack of a BATNA is a source of
weakness, in the present conflict. The fallback position for each side is “What will
happen if this negotiation does not succeed?” Beliefs about “what we will do if
this does not work” would define both the U.S. resistance point (where we would
give up trying to educe information from a specific person) and the resistance
point of the source (when he might decide to give information, or alternatively
seek to commit suicide, suffer injury that would prevent him from talking, or
provoke his being injured or killed). To shift the resistance point — to change the
source’s mind about talking — the interrogator would wish to sow doubt in that
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source about whether he can and wants to maintain silence or maintain his cover
story. The source, in turn, would want to sow doubt in the mind of the interrogator
as to whether he knows anything useful and whether he will ever speak.
In an emergency situation there might be very little time to try to change
someone’s mind; in trying to educe information against a tight deadline (the
“ticking bomb” scenario) the United States would have no fallback position. In
negotiations terms, the BATNA power of the source would be great and that of the
United States correspondingly weak. Alternatives in this situation would depend
on knowing or guessing what matters to the individual and using that information
according to a strategic plan. In such a situation it might be especially important
to focus on the goal (obtaining accurate and useful information) without such
“distractions” as the wish to vent frustration or punish the source.
In the war against terrorism any person willing and able to commit suicide
would have a near-perfect BATNA — the strongest in the world in resisting the
use of force. The United States would need to build a fallback position. Even in
the face of detainees’ willingness and ability to commit suicide, many sources
of power might yet be effective if there were time to use them: for example,
mobilizing any imam who opposes the use of violence or citing a fatwa that does
so, applying rewards and sanctions judiciously, instituting a tenacious and longterm effort to win friends for the United States, and “building community” (a
careful long-term plan to gain — and deserve — moral authority).

For Effectiveness: Prepare, Prepare, Prepare
Several basic tasks seem essential for effectiveness in every strategy in an EI
negotiation:
•

Taking note of the relevant parties whose interests are at stake;

•

Discovering – or at least developing working hypotheses about — the
tangible and intangible interests of each party;

•

Evaluating the sources of power available to each side in EI;

•

Developing relevant options for interrogation, and “fallback” options;

•

Planning strategy, style, and sequencing of tactics with the EI team;

•

Planning the role of each team member (for example, intake and
preliminary assessment, interrogation, analysis behind the scenes,
integration of data into and from the relevant intelligence community
database, on-going evaluation and guidance to educers, and the users of
information, and collection of records that can be analyzed for improved
knowledge and practice).

The first two tasks need special care.

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Preparing with Respect to U.S. Interests and Personnel
Effective negotiation in every strategy requires consideration and
understanding of the interests on both sides. An educer would thus first consider
the short-term and long-term goals of the United States. The short-term interests
are to obtain as much useful and accurate information as possible, as fast as
possible. Longer-term interests could include improving the image of the country,
the possibility of sowing doubt in the mind of a potential enemy, the importance
of planting information in a person or a group who will be released, and the
possibility of recruiting a secret agent or source.
It may not be a simple task for the U.S. side to understand the various
interests of the different people involved, let alone build a coherent or effective EI
team. However, planning and preparing a team approach for each source would
be important.
As an example, one party whose interests are at stake is the U.S. interrogator.
In a given EI situation the interests of the United States are not necessarily the
same as those of the educer(s). Imagine an untrained, frustrated interrogator who
is angry with “terrorists,” loathes his or her job in a detainee camp, and feels
great pressure to “get results.” This person, or the EI team, might have an interest
in “taking it out” on a source in a way that will not be in the short- or long-term
interests of the United States. A poorly trained interrogator or one who lacks
self-discipline might try to show off to co-workers in unfortunate ways, without
understanding the possible damage to U.S. interests. An interrogator who has
just arrived on the scene might not know what he or she needs to understand
about U.S. operational goals, and might therefore act according to his or her own
interests.
There might also be multiple agencies, or agents from multiple countries,
interested in information from one source. It may sometimes be helpful, as part
of a thoughtful strategic plan, for different people to try to educe information
from the same source, together or separately. However, theory suggests that
the presence of known observers and multiple parties is likely to change the
dynamics of a negotiation. Multiple educers could also be quite damaging — the
presence of more than one educer or educer team might make any of the parties
less cooperative. The involvement of more than one educer might sometimes
interfere with establishment of a “connection” with a source. Planning the roles
of each member of the EI team would seem essential.
Preparing with Respect to the Interests of the Source
What are the interests of the source and relevant persons who support the
source and/or his position? The characteristics of each individual source might be
important. Some sources may not be bitter enemies of the United States. Some
may not know anything of value. Some may be willing to trade (for example, they
might trade information for reputation, family benefits, money, or something else
of value). Some may be affected emotionally in predictable ways, for good or
for ill, by the way they are treated. Some might be “turned” and become willing
to provide information because of an interest in freedom and opportunity for
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themselves and family members. Some might occasionally want their viewpoint
to be “heard,” or become lonely in detention, and tell more than they originally
intended. Some may be motivated by false information that can be refuted. Some
may be trained to resist certain sources of power that might be used in EI, but
understanding the training methods may indicate ways of sowing doubt in that
training.
Another reason to know the interests of a source is to understand what
negotiation theory refers to as a “resistance point”: a point at which the source
changes his mind in an important way about dealing with the educer. This could
be the point at which the source will stop dealing with his captors and seek other
alternatives, such as trying to injure himself seriously, persuade someone else to
injure him, or commit suicide. A source might have a resistance point of a different
kind; that is, a point at which the source will decide to share — or appear to share
— important information. The educer would obviously benefit from discovering
this latter resistance point in order to try to move it toward cooperation. (The
educer might endeavor to lower the resistance point by causing the source to
doubt his own assessments, either about the United States or about his interests.)
To identify something to trade the educer would need to know what the
source would value: for example, changing aspects of the EI sessions, conditions
of custody, contacts with family, or time of release. EI interactions might present
numerous opportunities to offer something of value — tangible or intangible —
that involves little or no cost to U.S. interests. And if the source accepts something
of value, this might also mean that he now might stand to lose something if he
were to stop being helpful.
Few sources would be unique: each belongs to a religious group, a political
group, and an ethnic culture. He may belong to an extended family. How one
interacts with an individual source may be, de facto, part of a much larger
“negotiation” with all the others in his immediate group, and potentially with
all the people around the world who identify with the source. Members of the
source’s ethnic or religious group may also be at the site of the negotiation, which
means the question of “negotiating with the constituency” is close at hand. The
willingness of a source to give information might depend in important ways on
the attitudes of a group of sources and might require that the source be separated
from other sources. Alternatively, a group of sources might include people from
different backgrounds whose interests at least initially differ. Such differences
among the sources might advance U.S. interests if the United States could develop
a coalition with one or another group.

The Need for Research about Negotiations and EI
The founders of modern-day negotiation theory, Walton and McKersie,
developed their theory by studying records of negotiations.689 This type of study

689
Richard Walton and Robert McKersie, A Behavioral Theory of Labor Negotiations (Beverly
Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1965).

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could easily be extended to EI. Existing records of EI sessions, including debriefs
from the past, could be coded and analyzed with regard to the preparation,
strategies, tactics, different uses of negotiation power, and different team
configurations employed. Any available EI records from any country could be
analyzed in negotiation terms.
Perhaps the most important reason for establishing an on-going research
team would be not just to evaluate tactics “today,” or in a single time period,
but for continuous improvement of EI. Further study seems especially important
with respect to cross-cultural interactions; for example, building a strategic
connection and credibility and understanding success in identifying and changing
the resistance points of sources. Gender, nationality and religion of educer and
source would seem especially important in cross-cultural interactions.
Many different areas of negotiation theory may be important. For example,
research could:
•

Investigate coalition theory, and the importance of the “constituencies”
behind the educer and the source, to help U.S. educers who are part of
an extended intelligence community work with sources who are part of a
group or come from different groups;

•

Examine the effects of having a team of educers in the room in comparison
to having one person conduct the negotiation;

•

Study well-known tactics such as “good cop/bad cop” and “restrained
forcing”;

•

Track the sequencing of imparting information to a source to test the
accuracy of information provided by a source;

•

Evaluate the usefulness of planting information and misinformation;
and

•

Track the use of information, from the EI team to final user, and from
central databases to the EI team.

EI practitioners might explore the possibility of bringing together a few
negotiations theorists who have analyzed hundreds of negotiations to prepare a
protocol for analysis of records. They might either obtain clearances or train analysts
with security clearances to study old EI records from a negotiation perspective.

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By the same token, it might be useful to bring negotiations experts together with
EI experts simply to discuss best practices and continuous improvement.

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10
Options for Scientific Research on
Eduction Practices
Paul Lehner, Ph.D.
The MITRE Corporation
November 2005

Abstract
Eduction practices are methods, techniques, procedures, strategies, etc.,
employed as part of interviews and interrogations to draw out information
from subjects, some of whom may initially be unwilling to provide information. Obviously educed information can provide an important source of
HUMINT. Surprisingly, the last forty years have seen almost no scientific
research examining eduction practices. Rather, our current knowledge is
based on feedback and lessons learned from field experience. The “interrogation approaches” taught in standard interrogation training (e.g., Army
Field Manual 34-52) have remained largely unchanged since World War
II.
This paper argues two points: first, that scientific investigation of eduction
practices is needed to supplement lessons learned from field experience,
and second, that various research venues are available to examine these
practices. Research approaches could include both retrospective analyses
of data about past interrogations (including those that used harsh methods)
and new studies that relate different eduction practices to the value of information obtained.

Need for Scientific Investigation of Eduction Practices
As noted above, current knowledge of eduction practices is based on
experience. However, considerable historical and scientific evidence suggests
that expertise and experience provide an insufficient basis for determining the
effectiveness of practices when experts subjectively evaluate their own practices.
To illustrate, consider the case of a procedure to alleviate psychiatric disorders
that emerged from the medical community in the 1930s. According to one early
study, 121 out of 133 patients either “improved” or “improved somewhat”; in
another 153 patients improved, while 73 remained the same or got worse. On the
basis of these encouraging results the procedure gained in popularity; it was used
until the late 1960s to treat thousands of patients. The pioneer of the procedure
received the 1949 Nobel prize in medicine. The procedure? Lobotomy.

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After drilling a small hole in the temple on each side of the
skull, the surgeon then inserts a dull knife into the brain,
makes a fan-shaped incision through the prefrontal lobe, then
downward a few minutes later. He then repeats the incision on
the other side of the brain.... The patient is given only local
anesthetic at the temples — the brain itself is insensitive—and
the doctors encourage him to talk, sing, recite poems or prayers.
When his replies to questions show that his mind is thoroughly
disoriented, the doctors know that they have cut deep enough
into his brain.690
How could this procedure receive rave reviews? Apparently, the flaw in
these early studies was simply that physicians who provided these treatments also
rated the results. We know of no evidence to suggest that these physicians were
intentionally biased or deceitful; or that they had anything other than the best
interest of their patients at heart.
For a more contemporary example, consider the presumed ability of law
enforcement interrogators to evaluate their subjects. Professional interrogators
view nonverbal cues as important for detecting deception. Such cues include level
of eye contact; movement of legs, feet, head and trunk; shifting body positions;
“covering gestures” such as a hand over the mouth while talking; ear tugging; etc.
All of these have been tested; none is substantiated as an indicator of deception.691
A similar result occurs when interrogators are asked to determine (on the basis
of case summaries and interrogation videotapes) whether a confession is true or
false. Most studies show that trained and untrained evaluators (e.g., police officers
and college students) are equally poor at distinguishing between the confessions
of guilty and innocent study subjects, even when viewing videotaped interviews
from law enforcement situations. Often, however, law enforcement personnel
have more confidence in their abilities than untrained subjects — even though
their detection capabilities are no better.692
Associated with such examples is an extensive scientific literature on human
judgment. We will not review this literature here, but simply note that the examples
noted above should not be considered atypical.693 Natural human judgment biases,
such as the Law of Small Numbers (the tendency to jump to conclusions on the
basis of too little data) and the Confirmation bias (the tendency to underweight or
ignore evidence inconsistent with current beliefs), are very strong. These biases

690
This description of the history of lobotomy was drawn from R. Dawes, House of Cards:
Psychology and Psychotherapy Built on Myth (New York, The Free Press, 1994).
691
Research on detection deception is summarized in G. Hazlett, “Detection of Deception Research
Review,” prepared under the auspices of this ISB study.
692
See S. M. Kassin, Meissner, and R. J. Norwick, ”I’d Know a False Confession If I Saw One”:
A Comparative Study of College Students and Police Investigators. Law and Human Behavior, 29
(2005), 211-227.
693
For review of this research see R. Hastie, and R. Dawes, Rational Choice in an Uncertain
World: The Psychology of Judgment and Decision Making (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications,
2001).

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are quite resistant to “knowing better”; they often prevail even when experts are
fully aware of them and explicitly endeavor to mitigate their effect.694
These findings have a clear implication for the assessment of eduction
practices: it is imprudent to base assessment only on the subjective feedback
of interrogators. Interrogators are professionals, and are certainly committed
to providing the most honest evaluations they can. However, unless they differ
greatly from other experts, their judgments and memories will be biased in favor
of the effectiveness of the practices they employ. Information gleaned from field
experience constitutes a critical source of knowledge, and without question many
of the lessons learned from such experiences are valid. But, equally without
question, many are invalid. Which is which? Only objective, scientific research
can help to distinguish between them.

Feasibility of Scientific Investigation of Eduction
Practices
Researchers have substantial opportunity to investigate eduction practices
scientifically in ways that pose no ethical or political problems. The paragraphs
below outline some alternative study designs for these scientific investigations.
Venue 1: Objective Analysis of Contemporary Interrogations
As noted above, considerable evidence indicates that experts overrate the
effectiveness of their own practices. This occurs particularly when experts do not
receive frequent, objective feedback on the results of their practices — precisely
the circumstance in which interrogators usually find themselves. Although they
know whether or not a subject “talked,” they do not receive substantial feedback
on the accuracy or usefulness of the information educed. This can cause problems,
because a subject who has decided to feign cooperation would probably choose
to “reveal” two types of information: information that is accurate but useless and
information that appears useful, but is inaccurate.
Solving this problem requires independent, objective assessment of the
information educed. Fortunately, straightforward approaches exist for acquiring
such assessments. In essence, analysts should rate the usefulness, accuracy,
and timeliness of the information distributed from interrogations. To ensure
objectivity, the analysts performing these ratings should not know the source
of the information. Furthermore, these ratings should be delayed until after any
actions taken to follow up on the educed information are complete, because the

694
For a concrete example to which the reader can relate, have you ever seen a professional
basketball player on a “hot streak,” “in the zone,” etc.? In fact, you haven’t. A detailed analysis of
shooting behavior in almost every venue imaginable has yet to find a single professional player who
exhibits streaks beyond chance. The chance of making the next shot is simply independent of the
results of recent previous shots. In fact, shooting behavior is maximally inconsistent with the “hot
streak” hypothesis. Nevertheless, anyone who watches a game, including those of us who understand
statistics, “sees” streaks. The hot streaks are completely obvious and completely illusory.

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accuracy and/or usefulness of educed information may not be known until the
follow-up activities occur.
Objective feedback would provide a wealth of information about eduction
practices. At a minimum, the accuracy, usefulness, and timeliness of the educed
information could be correlated with:
Eduction strategy. Objective feedback may shed light on the effectiveness
of different strategies. It would certainly provide data for an objective
inquiry into claims about the effectiveness of alternative approaches to
eduction, such as building rapport, use of coercion and stress, indirect
eduction using stooges, etc.
Interrogator characteristics. Interrogators with certain backgrounds
or training may be especially effective. It may also be that certain
interrogators are simply better. If researchers can establish, objectively,
that some interrogators are better than others, they can begin to investigate
the defining characteristics of better interrogators.
Interrogator assessments. Can interrogators actually distinguish between
subjects who cooperate and those who feign cooperation? It is important
to understand the extent to which, in general, one can rely on the EI
practitioners themselves to predict the value of the information they
distribute.
Subject characteristics/behaviors. Different subjects react differently,
and collecting data that relates subject characteristics to EI results will
offer considerable guidance for future EI.
Field testing of new methods. Of course, as new eduction methods are
introduced into the field, the objective assessment of interrogation results
would also provide objective feedback about the effectiveness of the new
methods.
Venue 2: Objective Analysis of Historical Interrogations
Consider the following (paraphrased) claims:
“The initial goal of an interrogation is to break the subjects’ will. Once that
is accomplished, the subjects will tell you everything they know.”
“Torture is a poor interrogation technique. The information you obtain from
the subject is unreliable.”
Researchers cannot ethically investigate claims such as these by conducting
experiments, either in an academic setting with students as subjects or with
detainees in U.S. custody. However, they may be able to evaluate these claims
by drawing on the considerable historical data available. A principal data source
would be historical POW records and post-detainment debriefings. Unfortunately,
torture-based methods were commonly practiced against U.S. POWs, so a wealth
of such data exists.

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POW records can be objectively analyzed by following five steps:
Step 1: Develop specific criteria for determining, on the basis of
verbal descriptions, the eduction practices employed. This step
should be completed before the records that will be part of the
formal analysis are examined.
Step 2: Partition each record into three sets of statements
S1: Statements about the eduction practices employed
S2: Statements about the information educed
S3: Statements not related to either method or information.
To the extent possible, the timing of the S1 and S2 statements
should be noted to indicate when the event occurred. With POW
data such timing information will be approximate at best (e.g.,
“This happened during the first few months after I was captured.”),
but it will still be useful.
Step 3: Analyze S1 statements and apply the criteria in Step 1 to
determine the eduction practices employed. This assessment must
be performed by individuals who were not involved in Step 2 or
Step 4 below. This will ensure that knowledge of the information
educed does not influence the determination of the method
employed.
Step 4: Analyze the S2 statements. This should be done by an
analyst or historian who is asked to rate information statements
for accuracy, usefulness, and completeness. Step 4 must also be
executed by people who were not involved in Steps 2 or 3.
Step 5: Analyze the statistical correlation between the eduction
practices employed and the accuracy, usefulness, and completeness
of the information educed. The person performing the statistical
analysis need not be informed of the content of the S1 and S2
statements.
Using these data sets and analysis procedures, it should be possible to test
some of the claims about the efficacy of eduction practices that the United States
does not now employ. For example, the claim that subjects can be “broken” implies
that subjects will reach a point where they will simply “tell all.” The independent
assessments resulting from Step 4 may shed considerable light on whether
this is true. Similarly, the claim that torture results in unreliable information is
equally testable, provided we have an independent evaluation of the information
educed.695
While an objective analysis of historical data is unlikely to generate definitive
results on many questions of interest, it will provide some scientific feedback on
the validity of claims about coercive techniques. These data should be exploited.

695

We believe it may be possible to acquire North Vietnamese records of POW internments.

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Venue 3: Experiments with SERE Students
The U.S. military puts several hundred students through survival, evasion,
resistance, escape (SERE) training annually. SERE students receive resistance
training under conditions that are made as stressful as practical. They provide an
excellent subject pool for investigating eduction practices involving stress: both
practices intended to induce stress and methods that do not induce stress but may
lead to results that differ from those obtained under non-stress conditions.
Unlike the objective analyses described above, research with students
undergoing SERE training provides an opportunity for controlled experimentation
where the effect of an EI practice can be carefully separated from other variables.
This will be particularly useful for evaluating individual techniques intended to
have immediate impact or results, such as detection of deception, interpretation
of behaviors, behavioral tricks, etc.
However, since the SERE program only lasts a few weeks, research with
SERE students would not help in assessing practices based on building certain
longer term relationships with the subject. For example, the general claim that
rapport-based approaches are superior to coercive methods cannot be tested in
this setting.
Venue 4: Experiments with Other Military Personnel
Eduction practices that do not involve coercion or stress could be tested in
the general military population. Experiments with military personnel would be
particularly appropriate for research on practices whose effectiveness depends on
the subject’s ignorance of the specifics of the technique. For example, subjects
could defeat questioning strategies that derive information from what a subject
does not say, or the manner in which a subject responds to a question, if they knew
which behaviors the interrogators were seeking.
Venue 5: University Research
While ethical or secrecy concerns preclude university research on some
practices, many eduction practices are entirely benign and open. Research into
new and innovative approaches to educing information could and should proceed
in a traditional university setting. Indeed, as some of the reviews in this study have
documented, a wealth of ideas and approaches have already been investigated in
this setting.696
Venue 6: Research with Foreign Personnel
The extent to which culture and language influence the efficacy of various
eduction practices remains an open question. It is not at all clear, for example,
whether any behavioral indicators of deception cross cultural boundaries. As new
techniques are developed, researchers must test them with people from diverse

696
In particular, see G. Hazlett, “Detection of Deception Research Review,” and R. Borum,
“Approaching Truth: Behavioral Science Lessons on Educing Information from Human Sources,” both
prepared under the auspices of this ISB study.

311

cultures. To some extent this can be achieved through university research within
the United States or through field tests. However, both of these approaches have
limitations. Foreign-born students in U.S. universities are somewhat acclimated
to U.S. culture, so the ability to generalize from this research may be limited.
Opportunities to perform field tests with subjects under U.S. custody will be
sparse. This suggests a need to develop cooperative research arrangements with
other nations to engage in this research in their university and perhaps military
settings.
Summary of Venues
The table below summarizes this discussion by showing how different types
of eduction practices can be investigated in different venues. Eduction practices
vary by whether they seek tactical, short-term results (e.g., immediately detect
deception) or strategic, long-term results (e.g., build rapport). They also vary
according to the degree of coercion employed or stress induced. As the table
shows, the different venues are appropriate for examining different categories of
eduction practices.

No Stress

Low Stress

Moderate
Stress

Extreme
Stress

Tactical/
short-term
results

University
Research;
Military
Research;
Foreign
Research

Military
Research;
SERE Students;
Contemporary
Interrogations

SERE
Students

No Research
Venues

Strategic/
long-term
results

University
Research;
Military
Research;
Foreign
Research

Contemporary
Interrogations

POW
Records

POW
Records

Research venues appropriate for different types of eduction practices.
Source: The author.
Taken together, the diversity of research venues suggests that researchers
have substantial opportunities to assess scientifically many, if not all, of the
eduction practices that the United States might employ. They can also conduct
substantial retrospective scientific inquiries into practices the United States does
not employ.

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Conclusion
Experience and lessons learned offer a necessary, but insufficient, basis
for determining the effectiveness of eduction practices. A program of scientific
research on eduction practices is both necessary and highly feasible. Researchers
have diverse venues available to investigate eduction practices. Such a research
program should combine experimental research with a substantial effort to
perform independent and objective analyses of specific interrogation results.

313

11
Educing Information Bibliography
Theresa Dillon
The MITRE Corporation
February 2006

This selected, annotated bibliography accompanies the Intelligence Science
Board Study on Educing Information. It includes the most useful items in
English covering the theory, research and pragmatics of interrogation over
the past 50 years. Deception detection, persuasion, and compliance research
as well as legal and military doctrine are not covered in this bibliography.

Interrogation Best Practices
Biderman, A. D. (1960). “Social Psychological Needs and ‘Involuntary’
Behavior As Illustrated by Compliance in Interrogation.” Sociometry 23
(2), 120-147.
Drawing on a study of former Korean War U.S. Air Force POWs,
Biderman presents a social-psychological framework to explain why
prisoners yield during interrogation, with emphasis on the inability
of most POWs to remain silent during interrogation. Silence is
inconsistent with the prisoners’ need to maintain a viable social role
and positive self-esteem. Also considered are the effects of frustration,
hostility and guilt.
Bowden, M. (2003). “The Dark Art of Interrogation.” The Atlantic Monthly,
October, 51-76. http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200310/bowden
[Accessed 5/8/2006]
Bowden provides an in-depth account of the debate over torture
via case studies and interviews. The author traces the history of
U.S. interrogation and presents best practices as reported by expert
interrogators from Israel’s General Security Service, the New York
Police Department, and the CIA.
Johnson, W. R. (1986). “Tricks of the Trade: Counterintelligence Interrogation.”
The International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence 1(2),
103-113.

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This essay presents lessons that the author learned as an interrogator
during WWII. Johnson discusses why torture does not work;
characteristics that make a good interrogator; and how to handle
hard cases involving sociopaths, veterans of torture and professional
intelligence officers.
Lelyveld, J. (2005). “Interrogating Ourselves.” New York Times Magazine, 12
June.
This essay reviews legal issues surrounding “torture lite.” The author
reports on interviews with high-profile interrogators about best
practices in interrogation; reviews the Kennedy School and Harvard
Law School project that proposes legislating standards for the
application of torture lite; and examines what the United States can
learn from interrogation practices in Israel.
Meltzer, M. L. (1958). Power and Resistance in Interrogation. DTIC –
AD220464. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Medical
Center. Distribution authorized to U.S. government agencies and their
contractors.
Meltzer examines different types of power employed by interrogators,
including reward power, coercive power, expert power, attraction power,
and legitimate power. Citing supporting research studies, the author
details when each approach should be used and the psychological
forces at work.
Moran, S. F. (1944). Suggestions for Japanese Interpreters Based on Work in the
Field. San Francisco: Division Intelligence Section, Headquarters, First
Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force. The original source document is
located at the Alfred M. Gray Research Center (USMC Archives) of the
Marine Corps University in Quantico, Virginia. Link:
http://www.mcu.usmc.mil/MCRCweb/
This letter report by Marine Major Sherwood Moran highlights the
importance of attitude and language skills for a successful interpreter.
He rejects strong-arm tactics in favor of rapport building. Interpreters
should exhibit sincerity and sympathy and be good salesmen. Idiomatic
language skills and cultural knowledge are also recommended. Having
spent 40 years in Japan as a missionary prior to WWII, Moran draws on
his knowledge of language and culture in this timeless report.
Stanton, G. (1995). “Defense against Communist Interrogation Organizations.”
In H. B. Westerfield (ed), Inside the CIA’s Private World: Declassified
Articles from the Agency’s Internal Journal, 1955-1992. New Haven,
CT: Yale University Press, 415-436.

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Originally published in 1969 and classified CONFIDENTIAL, this
manual instructs undercover agents on how to prepare themselves
in advance for communist interrogation. The article outlines what to
expect and how to behave at each stage from arrest to interrogation. It
also describes arguments and tactics used to make suspected spies talk
and suggests effective resistance strategies.
Toliver, R. F., and Scharff, H. J. (1978). The Interrogator: The Story of Hanns
Joachim Scharff, Master Interrogator of The Luftwaffe. Fallbrook, CA:
Aero Publishers.
During World War II, Hanns Scharff served as master interrogator of
the Luftwaffe. He questioned captured U.S. fighter pilots of the USAAF
Eighth and Ninth Air Forces. Through analysis of pocket litter, detailed
files on pilots and squadrons, and transcripts of radio communication,
Scharff could convince a captured pilot that he already knew everything.
After the official interview ended, Scharff would induce soldiers to
reveal military secrets through conversation rather than coercion. His
technique included befriending the captured pilots and showing respect
for rank.
Zimmer, H., and Meltzer, M. L. (1957). An Annotated Bibliography of Literature
Relevant to the Interrogation Process. DTIC – AD220465. Washington, DC:
Georgetown University Medical Center. Distribution authorized to U.S.
government agencies and their contractors.
Covering the fields of psychology, sociology, anthropology, physiology,
psychiatry, and medicine, this bibliography, published in 1957, pulls
together unclassified scientific literature related to the interrogation
process. Complete with abstracts, the bibliography is broken down
into the following sections: interpersonal observation and evaluation;
deception and the accuracy of reported information; communication
and interaction between two persons; communication and interaction
methodology; authority and its internalization; reactions to coercive
pressures; manipulation of the source’s conscious controls; ideological
compliance, conformity, and conversion; morale in combat and
captivity; and the group as a source of support or conflict for the
individual.

Interrogation Case Studies
Bond, M. (2004). “The Enforcer.” New Scientist, 20 November.
Michael Koubi worked for Shin Bet, Israel’s security service, for 21
years and was its chief interrogator from 1987 to 1993. In this interview,
Koubi discusses best practices and provides details on the interrogation
of Sheikh Yassin, the former leader of the Palestinian group Hamas.

316

Bond, M. (2004). “The Prisoner.” New Scientist, 20 November.
After interviewing Michael Koubi, Michael Bond interviews a
Palestinian woman about her interrogation by Koubi after she was
arrested while trying to smuggle sensitive photographs across the
border. She describes the techniques Koubi used to try to get her to talk.
Hoffman, B. (2002). “A Nasty Business.” The Atlantic Monthly, 289 (1), January,
49-52.
A terrorism expert, Hoffman illustrates the complexity of gathering
human intelligence from insurgents. He uses the Battle of Algiers and
Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka as case studies.
Mackey, C., and Miller, G. (2004). The Interrogators: Inside the Secret War
against Al Qaeda. New York: Little, Brown.
In this memoir, a senior interrogator details the U.S. Army interrogation
operation, including interrogation training at Fort Huachuca, language
training at the Defense Language Institute, and deployment as an
interrogator in Afghanistan. This narrative covers interrogation
strategies and case studies; collection priorities and findings; report
writing and analysis; and the relationships between military intelligence
services, and domestic and foreign civil intelligence agencies. The
motivations of detainees from different ethnic groups are also examined.
Pribbenow, M. L. (2004). “The Man in the Snow White Cell.” Studies
in Intelligence, 48 (1).
http://www.cia.gov/csi/studies/vol48no1/article06.html
[Accessed 5/8/2006]
Nguyen Tai, the most senior North Vietnamese officer captured in the
Vietnam War, was interrogated by both the U.S. and South Vietnamese
using a variety of strategies. He spent the last three years in a white
cell, lit around the clock by bright lights, and kept at cold temperatures.
This case study provides a history of Tai’s capture and interrogation as
well as his remarkable strength in concealing his knowledge of North
Vietnamese operations.
Pryor, F. L. (1994/1995). “On Reading My Stasi Files.” National Interest, Winter.
From 1959 through 1961 the author lived in West Berlin, writing his
doctoral dissertation for Yale University on the foreign trade system of
the Soviet bloc, using East Germany as a case study. While traveling to
East Berlin, he was arrested and charged with espionage and released
five months later. With the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Stasi files became
open. The author reviews his files, examining the motives of the Stasi
and the methods used in his interrogation.

317

Saar, E., and Novak, V. (2005). Inside the Wire: A Military Intelligence Soldier’s
Eyewitness Account of Life at Guantanamo. New York: Penguin Press.
Saar, an army linguist deployed for six months at Guantanamo Bay’s
Camp Delta, shares his experiences of working in both the Joint
Detainee Operations Group (JDOG) and the Joint Intelligence Group
(JIG) from December 2002 to June 2003. With the JDOG, he served as
an Arabic translator on the cell blocks, translating between detainees
and the military police (MP), medics and psych teams. With the JIG,
he supported interrogators from the U.S. Army, civilian intelligence
agencies, and civilian contracting firms. Problems include a loose
command structure, training gaps, morale issues, and intra- and intergroup hostilities. He describes treatment of the detainees by the MPs,
organization of detainees on the cell blocks, and what happens in the
interrogation room.
Van de Velde, J. R. (2005). Camp Chaos: U.S. Counterterrorism Operations
at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. International Journal of Intelligence and
Counterintelligence, 18, 538-548.
The author, who had been stationed at Guantanamo Bay (GTMO)
as both a naval intelligence officer and later as a contractor, reviews
the GTMO operation and highlights its shortcomings. While Army
SOUTHCOM is in charge at GTMO, the camp falls victim to the
competing interests of the CIA, the FBI and the DoD. GTMO is
plagued by an ill-defined mission and the lack of standard procedures
for producing and distributing intelligence products. The intelligence
that is gathered is not properly analyzed or viewed in a larger context.
Military interrogators are reservists who spend only 6-8 months at the
camp. They tend to clash with civilian contractors with longer tours of
duty and higher pay.
Zagorin, A., and Duffy, M. (2005). “Inside the Interrogation of Detainee 063.”
Time Magazine, 165, 25, 20 June.
Based on secret interrogation logs, this article details the interrogation
of Guantanamo Bay Detainee 063, Mohammed al-Qahtani, widely
thought to be the 20th hijacker in the Sept. 11 attacks.

Interrogation Policies, Practices and Research
Communist Interrogation, Indoctrination and Exploitation of American Military,
and Civilian Prisoners, 84th Congress, 2nd Sess. (1956).
These 1956 U.S. Senate subcommittee hearings delve into Communist
interrogation and indoctrination of U.S. prisoners of war. They provide
a good review of Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps research into

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Russian and Chinese methods and their application during the Korean
War.
Biderman, A. D. (1956). Communist Techniques of Coercive Interrogation.
DTIC – AD0098908. Randolph Air Force Base: Office for Social
Science Programs, Air Force Personnel and Training Research
Center. Distribution authorized to U.S. government agencies and their
contractors.
This report describes the coercive techniques employed by the
Communists to undermine resistance and induce compliance.
Techniques include isolation; monopolization of attention; induced
debilitation and exhaustion; cultivation of anxiety and despair;
alternating punishments and rewards; demonstrating “omnipotence”
and “omniscience” of the captor; degradation; and enforcing trivial
and absurd demands. Physical violence and torture are not an essential
part of the Communist repertoire. The author also comments on the
effectiveness of self-inflicted pain and ideological appeals, as well as
the role of “mind reform” in inducing compliance.
Biderman, A. D. (1957). “Communist Attempts to Elicit False Confessions from
Air Force Prisoners of War.” Bulletin NY Academy of Medicine 33 (9),
616–625.
Based on research on repatriated U.S. Air Force POWs captured
in Korea, Biderman’s article describes how Communists shaped
compliance and elicited false confessions. The objective of the
Communists was not merely to get the captor to confess to certain
acts but, rather, to behave as if he actually committed the confessed
crimes. Two useful charts are provided, one outlining the eight coercive
methods used by the Communists, including their effects and specific
forms, and another detailing the range of POW behaviors in response to
coercion, from complete resistance to complete compliance.
Biderman, A. D., and Zimmer, H. (1961). The Manipulation of Human Behavior.
NewYork; London: John Wiley.
This out-of-print book reviews scientific knowledge in the field of
interrogation, focusing on attempts to elicit factual information from
an unwilling subject. It includes the following papers: Lawrence
E. Hinkle Jr., “The physiological state of the interrogation subject
as it affects brain function”; Philip E. Kubzansky, “The effects of
reduced environmental stimulation on human behavior: A review”;
Louis A. Gottschalk, “The use of drugs in interrogation”; R. C. Davis,
“Physiological responses as a means of evaluating information” (this
chapter deals with the polygraph); Dr. Martin T. Orne, “The potential

319

uses of hypnosis in interrogation”; Robert R. Blake and Jane S. Mouton,
“The experimental investigation of interpersonal influence”; and
Malcolm L. Meltzer, “Countermanipulation through malingering.”
Biderman, A. D. (1963). An Annotated Bibliography on Prisoner Interrogation,
Compliance and Resistance. DTIC – AD670999. Washington, DC:
Bureau of Social Science Research.
This bibliography contains about 200 items from the unclassified
literature that appeared in 1953–1963 on prisoner interrogation,
compliance and resistance.
Blagrove, M. (1996). “Effects of Length of Sleep Deprivation on Interrogative
Suggestibility.” Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied 2 (1), 4859.
Blagrove investigates whether loss of sleep can cause people to
acquiesce to leading questions as well as change their answers in
subsequent interviews. In this study, subjects listened to two taped short
stories and later, after one or two nights without sleep, answered a set of
leading questions on information not contained in the stories. Using the
Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale, a standard measure of interrogative
suggestibility, participants were scored on how many affirmative
answers they gave to leading questions and on how often they changed
answers after negative feedback. The study reveals that sleep-deprived
individuals are more suggestible than control groups, due to lowered
cognitive ability and the motivation to acquiesce.
Cunningham, C. (1972). “International Interrogation Techniques.” Journal of the
Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies 117 (3), 31–34.
Cunningham, former Senior Psychologist, POW Intelligence, UK
Ministry of Defence, discusses the object of interrogation and reviews
the three methods of interrogation: direct, indirect, and clandestine.
This article was written in response to the UK’s 1972 Parker Report,
which recommends authorized procedures for the interrogation of
suspected terrorists.

320

Goldberger, L. (1993). “Sensory Deprivation and Overload.” In L. Goldberger
and S. Breznitz (eds.), Handbook of Stress: Theoretical and Clinical
Aspects, 2nd ed. New York: Free Press, 333–341.
This brief chapter provides an overview of research on sensory
deprivation and overload by reviewing the major studies and findings
since the 1950s. The practical application of sensory research to a
variety of domains is discussed.
Hinkle Jr, L. E., and Wolff, H. G. (1956). “Communist Interrogation and
Indoctrination of ‘Enemies of the States’.” AMA Archives of Neurology
and Psychiatry 78, 115–174.
This comprehensive report provides a detailed analysis of the structure
and practices of the Russian KGB and the state police in Communist
China in the 1950s. On the basis of input from field experts, the study
of former Communist prisoners, and published literature, Wolff and
Hinkle provide a window into Communist arrest and interrogation
systems from investigation to “trial.”
Hoare, O. (ed). (2000). Camp 020: MI5 and the Nazi Spies: The Official History
of MI5’s Wartime Interrogation Centre. Richmond, Surrey: Public
Record Office (UK). Originally published in 1947 as TOP SECRET by
R. W. G. Stephens and titled, “A Digest of Ham.”
This book captures MI5’s official history of Camp 020, Britain’s
WWII spy prison. The introduction reviews the events that led to
the establishment of Camp 020, including the public hysteria over a
supposed Fifth Column of German agents working behind Western
lines; outlines the organization of WWII British intelligence services;
and paints a picture of Lieutenant-Colonel R.W.G. “Tin Eye” Stephens,
Commandant of Camp 020. Volume One deals with interrogation
techniques, trends in enemy espionage, and the various phases of Camp
020’s development. Volume Two provides case histories, including how
agents were “broken” and the resulting intelligence yield.
Kleinman, S. M. (2002). The History of MIS-Y: U.S. Strategic Interrogation
during World War II. Unpublished master’s thesis, DTIC Document
ADA447589. Washington, DC: Joint Military Intelligence College.
This thesis captures the essence of the MIS-Y strategic interrogation
program and the challenges of obtaining intelligence through the
interrogation of German prisoners-of-war in support of the Allied war
effort. MIS-Y operated from 1942–1945 at Fort Hunt near Washington,
D.C., and was a carefully guarded secret. This study examines the
key elements of the MIS-Y strategic interrogation mission, including

321

program organization; procedures for screening, selecting and handling
POWs; training for interrogators; methods of interrogation; Allied
information requirements; and intelligence collected.
Lifton, R. J. (1956). “‘Thought Reform’ of Western Civilians in Chinese
Communist Prisons.” Psychiatry 19, 173–195.
Lifton, formerly a psychiatrist at Walter Reed Medical Institute,
interviewed Western civilians released from Chinese Communist
prisons in 1955 and 1956. In this account, he provides a window into
Chinese penal “thought reform,” citing the experiences of individual
prisoners. Chinese Communist “thought reform” seeks to annihilate
identity, establish guilt, and create internal conflict. The interrogator
demands more and more information and the prisoner develops an
increasing need to meet those demands. The struggle continues back
in the cell where “reformed” cellmates harass the prisoner. When the
prisoner has reached the “breaking point,” captors adopt a policy of
leniency or calculated kindness that rewards cooperation. Coached by
his interrogators, the prisoner gives in to the compulsion to confess
to real and fantasized actions, ultimately writing a well-crafted final
confession. With reeducation, the prisoner spends most of his waking
hours in study group sessions transferring his guilt for confessed crimes
to major elements of his identity. He begins to interpret his past life
as evil and completely identifies with the aggressor. Lifton maintains
that the Chinese Communist prison is “probably the most thoroughly
controlled and manipulated group environment that has ever existed.”
MacDonald, H. (2005). “How to Interrogate Terrorists.” City Journal.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=16572.
Accessed 5/8/2006.
This controversial piece discusses the consequences of the Abu Ghraib
scandal for military interrogation practices and defends the use of stress
techniques. Case studies from Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay and
interviews with interrogators are included.
Mayer, J. (2005, 14 February). “Outsourcing Torture.” The New Yorker.
The United States established an “extraordinary rendition” program to
transfer terror suspects to foreign countries for interrogation. Mayer
documents the rendition program’s history, identifies shortcomings, and
provides case studies.

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McCoy, A. W. (2005). “Cruel Science: CIA Torture and U.S. Foreign Policy.”
New England Journal of Public Policy 19 (2), 209–262.
http://www.mccormack.umb.edu/nejpp/articles/19_2/CruelScience.pdf
[Accessed 5/8/2006]
This lengthy essay provides a history of the CIA’s psychological
interrogation methods over the past fifty years from secret research into
coercion and human consciousness in the 1950s and 1960s to renewed
interest in CIA techniques after September 11. It surveys the MKUltra
project, CIA’s mind-control research program, profiling major efforts
and researchers. It includes case studies of the dissemination of CIA
methods to Uruguay, Iran, and the Philippines. Finally, it examines
the record of the Bush administration and recent U.S. policy on harsh
interrogation.
McGuffin, J. (1981). The Guineapigs. 2nd ed. San Francisco: Minuteman Press.
http://www.irishresistancebooks.com/guineapigs/guineapigs.htm.
Accessed 5/8/2006.
This book documents the British Army’s use of sensory deprivation
torture on fourteen Irish political prisoners in 1971. First published
in 1974, this book sold out on its first print run and was then abruptly
taken off the market following pressure from the British Government.
The updated 1984 second edition is now out of print and available
online only.
Merton, V., and Kinscherff, R. (1981). The Court-Martial of Bobby Garwood:
Coercive Persuasion and the “Culpable Mind.” Garrison, NY: Hastings
Center Report, 5-8.
This article examines the court martial of Bobby Garwood, a POW who
collaborated with the Vietnamese after indoctrination. Merton addresses
learned helplessness and the victim’s identification with the aggressor
and poses the question whether coercive persuasion is a valid defense.
Piper Jr, A. (1993). “‘Truth Serum’ and ‘Recovered Memories’ of Sexual Abuse:
A Review of the Evidence.” Journal of Psychiatry and Law 21 (4),
447–471.
This article outlines the amytal interview process and reviews the
literature on the accuracy of information obtained while a subject is
sedated with amytal. Studies reveal the following weaknesses in the use
of amytal as an interview tool: increased patient suggestibility; ability
to lie during sedation; possibility of induced hypnosis; and disturbances
in mental process that can result in unreliable information.

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Ruscio, J. (2005). “Exploring Controversies in the Art and Science of Polygraph
Testing.” Skeptical Inquirer 29 (1), 34–39.
The polygraph test is used to investigate specific incidents and for
screening. The Control Question Test (CQT) and the Guilty Knowledge
Test (GKT), two distinct types of polygraph, are reviewed. The author
examines the validity and utility of the CQT and the GKT in different
scenarios.
Schein, E. H. (1961). Coercive Persuasion: A Socio-Psychological Analysis of
the “Brainwashing” of American Civilian Prisoners by the Chinese
Communists. New York: W. W. Norton.
Between 1950 and 1953, the Chinese Communists imprisoned U.S.
civilians who were later repatriated with altered attitudes, values, and
beliefs brought about through thought reform. The Chinese program
emphasized confessions for rehabilitation and reform and relied on
coercive persuasion. In this book, the behavior changes of a sample
of these U.S. prisoners are examined from a socio-psychological
viewpoint. The historical and political context of the Chinese thought
reform program and the relevant psychological, physiological,
psychiatric, and sociological theories at work are outlined.
Straus, U. (2003). “The Interrogations.” In The Anguish of Surrender: Japanese
POWs of World War II. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 116-149.
Japan indoctrinated soldiers with the belief that death was better than
the dishonor of becoming a POW. With the shame of capture, Japanese
POWs were without a country and held no hopes of returning to Japan.
Cultural norms regulate the giving and receiving of favors in Japanese
society. Americans did not simply spare the lives of the Japanese POWs,
they also gave the prisoners cigarettes, food, and medical treatment.
The POWs, in return, gave answers to seemingly innocuous questions.
Humane treatment combined with knowledge of Japanese culture
and language was effective in getting POWs to talk. In addition to
describing the psychology of the Japanese POW of WWII, this chapter
documents the use of Nisei (second-generation U.S. Japanese) linguists
and reviews both tactical battlefield interrogations and interrogations
at Camp Tracy, a secret facility focused on technical and strategic
information gathering.
Weinstein, H. (1988). “Supply and Demand.” In Father, Son and CIA. Halifax:
Formac Publishing Co. http://www.serendipity.li/cia/c99.html.
Accessed 5/8/2006.

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A psychiatrist chronicles the decline of his father, who was subjected
to mind control experiments funded by the CIA. This chapter provides
the history of mind control in the United States and surveys the major
research programs and scientists involved.
Winter, A. (2005). “The Making of ‘Truth Serum’.” Bulletin of the History of
Medicine 79, 500-533.
This essay gives a history of “truth serums” such as scopolamine,
focusing on the social and cultural forces that led to their acceptance in
the 1920s and 1930s. Mesmerism and hypnotism set the stage for belief
in a confessional state. Psychology, as an emerging discipline, was
vulnerable to unproven ideas, including the reliability and permanence
of memory. The general public, concerned about crime and corruption
and swayed by the power of scientific discovery, was eager to embrace
“truth serums” as scientifically sound.
Wolff, H. G. (1960). “Every Man Has His Breaking Point.” Military Medicine
85-104.
This report debates whether every man has a breaking point and
examines U.S. government policies on POW behavior. It reports on
the frequency of collaboration and resistance in the WWI, WWII,
and the Korean War. It discusses why prisoners talk and compares
combat-related breaking points to psychological POW breaking points.
In addition, it highlights the role of character and commitment to
resistance behavior.

Interrogation as Dialogue
Walton, D. (2003). “The Interrogation as a Type of Dialogue.” Journal
of Pragmatics 35, 1771-1802. http://io.uwinnipeg.ca/~walton/
papers%20in%20pdf/03interrogationdialogue.pdf. Accessed 5/8/2006.
This analysis examines the methods and techniques of argumentation
that are used in interrogation. Interrogation is classified as a hybrid
type of dialogue employing both deliberation and information-seeking.
Characterized by both deception and coercion, it is asymmetric in
nature as one party has power and the other is passive. A normative
model of interrogation is presented.

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Captivity Dynamics
Biderman, A. D. (1961). Cultural Models of Captivity Relationships. BSSR
Research Report 339-4, DTIC – AD257325. Washington, DC: Bureau
of Social Science Research.
The behavior of captives depends in large measure upon their
conceptions of what social roles are appropriate to the unfamiliar
situations they encounter. These situations are also shaped in important
ways by cultural conceptions of the captor regarding the status of his
captives. This report reviews some of the historical and traditional
elements of the cultures of captor and captives that have important
direct effects on these role conceptions. The report was prepared as part
of a critical review of studies of prisoners of war, concentration camp
prisoners, and political prisoners.
Biderman, A. D., Heller, B. S., and Epstein, P. (1961). A Selected Bibliography
on Captivity Behavior. DTIC – AD253964. Washington, DC: Bureau of
Social Science Research. Distribution authorized to U.S. government
agencies and their contractors.
This bibliography lists over 600 titles focused on the extremely
deprivational captivity experienced by U.S. POWs during the Korean
War. It was prepared to accompany a report titled The relevance for the
social sciences of knowledge derived from studies of stressful captivity,
written by Biderman and Schein.
Farber, I. E., Harlow, H. F., and West, L. J. (1957). “Brainwashing, Conditioning,
and DDD (Debility, Dependency and Dread).” Sociometry 20 (4), 271285.
The authors examine the states of debility, dependency, and dread
(DDD) that POWs were subjected to in Korea. Debility was induced by
conditions such as semi-starvation, fatigue, and disease. The captor’s
control of the POW’s basic needs created dependency. Dread was
marked by the POW’s intense fear and anxiety. Some of the behavioral
principles explaining the effects of DDD derive from instrumental
learning and classical conditioning. DDD alters self-concept and
results in the primitivization of thinking. The intermittent nature
of DDD served to keep hope alive. POWs get much-needed social
communication through interrogation and indoctrination sessions. The
authors conclude that resistance to the consequences of DDD is a matter
of degree and may be modified by physical health and initial anxiety,
albeit not indefinitely.

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Hinkle Jr, L. E. (1963). Notes on the Physical State of the Prisoner of War As
It May Affect Brain Function. DTIC – AD671001. Washington, DC:
Bureau of Social Science Research.
This short report notes the deprivations of captivity, their possible
effects on brain function, and the implications for POW and captors.
Hunger, pain, signals of danger, and other sensory input are, of
themselves, not toxic to the brain. Instead, it is the reaction of the
individual to these inputs that can affect brain function. By contrast,
isolation, sleep deprivation, and fatigue are intrinsically adverse
to brain function and the individual’s reaction is only one factor in
determining how long these effects can be withstood. The author
cautions, however, that disturbed brain function does not allow an
interrogator to extract information at will.

Obedience to Authority
Haney, C., Banks, C., and Zimbardo, P. G. (1973). A Study of Prisoners and
Guards in a Simulated Prison. Naval Research Reviews. Accessed
5/8/2006.
The infamous Stanford Prison Experiment simulated a prison
environment with college students divided into groups of guards and
prisoners. Participants conformed to assigned role types, with guards
exhibiting aggressive behavior and prisoners acting submissive and
docile. This study provides insights into the power of social contexts to
influence behavior.
Milgram, S. (1963). “Behavioral Study of Obedience.” Journal of Abnormal and
Social Psychology 67, 371-378.
In this classic study on obedience, 40 subjects were instructed to
administer increasing levels of shock to a volunteer victim in the
context of an experiment on learning and memory. Without knowing
that the shock generator was a fake, 26 out of the 40 subjects obeyed
the experimenter’s commands to the end, ultimately delivering the
highest level of shock available. Milgram’s experiment reveals that an
individual who is commanded to obey by a legitimate authority usually
complies.

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Law Enforcement Tradition
Gudjonsson, G. H. (2003). The Psychology of Interrogations and Confessions: A
Handbook. John Wiley and Sons.
Gudjonsson, an expert on false confession, examines various aspects
of investigative interviewing and highlights the accuracy and
completeness of the information gathered during police interrogation.
This book covers the theoretical, research, and practical aspects of
interrogation and confession in the United States and Britain. In
addition, it addresses reasons why suspects confess, false confession,
and suggestibility, as well as English and U.S. law regarding
confessions.
Inbau, F. E., Reid, J. E., Buckley, J. P., and Jayne, B. C. (2004). Criminal
Interrogation and Confessions. 4th ed. Boston: Jones and Bartlett
Publishers.
First published in 1962, this book is the classic text for the Reid
Technique, the standard U.S. law enforcement approach to interview
and interrogation.
Kassin, S. M. (2005). “On the Psychology of Confessions: Does Innocence Put
Innocents at Risk?” American Psychologist 60 (3), 215-228.
Confession evidence plays a part in 15% to 25% of wrongful
convictions. What causes innocent people to make false confessions?
In pre-interrogation interviews, investigators make judgments about
guilt that influence the entire interrogation process. Innocent suspects
waive their Miranda rights in the belief that their innocence will
exonerate them and are subjected to coercive interrogation designed to
elicit confession. Police, judges, and juries cannot distinguish between
uncorroborated true and false confessions. The author proposes reforms
to current interrogation practices including videotaping interrogations
as a means of protecting innocent suspects.
Kassin, S. M., and Gudjonsson, G. H. (2004). “The Psychology of Confessions:
A Review of the Literature and Issues.” Psychological Science in the
Public Interest, 5 (2), 33-67.
This comprehensive literature review surveys major research on
confession. It examines the pre-interrogation interview; the impact of
Miranda; modern police interrogation methods; the problem of false
confessions; and the consequences of confession evidence. It also
discusses detection of deception, social influences, why people waive
their Miranda rights, and why people confess.

328

Leo, R. A. (1992). “From Coercion to Deception: The Changing Nature of Police
Interrogation in America.” Crime, Law and Social Change 18, 35-59.
Over the past 50 years, methods of police interrogation have shifted
from the use of physical coercion to psychological deception. Coercive
interrogation, or the “third degree,” is characterized by physical
violence, torture, duress and threats of harm. Deceptive interrogation
includes misrepresenting the interrogation as an interview; downplaying
the seriousness of offenses; playing sympathetic roles to manipulate
suspects; offering psychological excuses or moral justifications for
actions; making promises; concealing the interrogator’s identity; and
fabricating evidence. Leo describes and explains the changes in police
interrogation as driven by police professionalization, changing public
attitudes, and court-driven legal doctrine.
Leo, R. A. (1996). “Inside the Interrogation Room.” The Journal of Criminal
Law and Criminology 86 (2), 266-303.
Based on fieldwork involving 182 cases, this study describes and
analyzes police interrogation practices in the U.S. criminal justice
system. Findings indicate that the number of interrogation tactics
employed and the length of the interrogation contribute to successful
interrogation. The most successful tactics include appealing to the
suspect’s conscience; identifying contradictions in the suspect’s
story; using praise or flattery; and offering moral justifications or
psychological excuses. Successful interrogations are defined as those
interrogations that elicit incriminating information from suspects.
Ofshe, R. J. (1989). “Coerced Confessions: The Logic of Seemingly Irrational
Action.” Cultic Studies Journal 6 (1), 1-15.
An expert in false confessions, Ofshe uses the case study of Tom
Sawyer, a man coerced into confessing to murdering his neighbor
in 1986, to illustrate how police can manipulate certain vulnerable
suspects into confessing to and even believing they have committed
crimes of which they have no memory and which evidence proves they
could not have committed.
Ofshe, R. J., and Leo, R. A. (1997). “The Social Psychology of Police
Interrogation: The Theory and Classification of True and False
Confessions.” Studies in Law, Politics and Society 16, 189-251.
Ofshe and Leo, leading researchers in false confession, present a socialpsychological model of police interrogation that describes both tactics
that interrogators use to influence the interrogation and factors that

329

guide suspects’ behavior. They also propose a classification system for
statements made during interrogation.

The Torture Debate
Arrigo, J. M. (2004). “A Utilitarian Argument against Torture Interrogation
of Terrorists.” Science and Engineering Ethics 10 (3), 543-572. An
earlier version of this paper presented at the Joint Services Conference
on Professional Ethics is available online at: http://www.usafa.af.mil/
jscope/JSCOPE03/Arrigo03.html. Accessed 5/8/2006.
Drawing from criminology, organizational theory, social psychology,
the historical record, and interviews with military professionals, the
author explores the potential of an official U.S. program of torture
interrogation of suspected terrorists from a practical viewpoint. Three
models of how torture interrogation leads to truth are examined. In
the animal instinct model, suspects give up information to escape pain
or death, with the prototype here being the “ticking bomb” scenario.
The cognitive failure model maintains that, due to physiological and
psychological stress, suspects are unable to maintain deception and
comply with the interrogator. This model is associated with the torture
of fanatics, martyrs, and heroes. To obtain reliable information, the data
processing model analyzes a large amount of data from indiscriminate
torture interrogation of many detainees. The dragnet interrogation of
terrorist suspects and their associates employs this model. The article
highlights special institutional requirements of and major hindrances
to each model and outlines the societal and political costs of torture
interrogation.
Casebeer, W. D. (2003). “Torture Interrogation of Terrorists: A Theory of
Exceptions” (With Notes, Cautions, and Warnings). Paper presented at
the Joint Services Conference on Professional Ethics, Springfield, VA,
30-31 January. http://www.usafa.af.mil/jscope/JSCOPE03/Casebeer03.
html. Accessed 5/8/2006.
When is it morally permissible to engage in torture interrogation?
The author attempts to answer this question using the three major
tools of moral analysis: utilitarianism, deontology, and virtue theory.
Walzer’s “Supreme Emergency” doctrine is applied to the justification
of torture interrogation. The author concludes that while torture might
be permissible in certain theoretical circumstances, these circumstances
will never arise in practice.
Krauthammer, C. (2005, 5 December). “The Truth about Torture: It’s Time To
Be Honest about Doing Terrible Things.” Weekly Standard, 11 (12).

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In response to the McCain amendment, this essay debates not whether
torture is permissible, but when. The real argument should be what
constitutes legal exceptions to a torture ban. Although torture may not
provide reliable information, it may be useful in some situations and
should not be taken off the table. According to the author, we may be
morally compelled to torture in a ticking bomb scenario and with lowfuse, high value terrorists such as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
Rejali, D. (2004, 18 June). “Torture’s Dark Allure.” Salon. http://archive.salon.
com/opinion/feature/2004/06/18/torture_1/index.html Accessed
5/8/2006.
Rejali argues that torture during interrogation does not yield better
information. He discusses the nature of pain in the context of torture,
the effects of torture on the torturer, the incremental nature of brutality,
and the reliability of information gleaned through torture.
Rejali, D. (2004, 21 June). “Does Torture Work?” Salon. http://www.salon.
com/opinion/feature/2004/06/21/torture_algiers/index.html Accessed
5/8/2006.
An expert on torture, Rejali debunks the claim that the Battle of Algiers
was won through the use of torture. He argues that the French won the
Battle of Algiers through force, not by superior intelligence gathered
by torture. He also outlines and counters arguments made by torture
apologists.
Sullivan, A. (2005, 19 December). “The Abolition of Torture: Saving the United
States from a Totalitarian Future.” The New Republic.
Sullivan responds to Charles Krauthammer’s essay condoning torture
in certain scenarios. By legally sanctioning torture, U.S. values are
undermined and our relationship with foreign countries as well as
our ability to get actionable intelligence is jeopardized. Once allowed,
torture cannot be contained.

331

INDEX
A
Abu Ghraib, 130, 245, 253, 319
Accuracy, 4, 17, 19, 31, 32, 34, 35, 37, 46, 65-68, 70, 71, 73, 82, 83, 85, 107, 111,
137, 150, 163, 205, 231, 242, 248, 295, 302, 305, 307, 313, 320, 325
Affiliation, 117, 178, 279, 314
Agility, 257
All-seeing eye approach, 126
Alternative question methodology, 110, 111, 148, 183, 189, 190, 202, 207, 212,
224
Ambiguity, 102, 129, 134, 256, 258
Appreciation, 195, 244, 280
Approach avoidance, 22, 110
Army Field Manual 34-52, 6, 18, 126, 127, 303
Attitudes, 21, 22, 29, 33, 37, 47, 64, 107, 114, 116, 147, 150, 152, 178, 180, 184,
193, 202, 272, 292, 301, 312, 321, 326
Authority, 23, 36, 110, 116, 120, 151, 172, 175, 293, 297-299, 313, 324
Authority principle, 105, 112, 126
Autonomy, 279, 280
B
Barriers to success, 3, 6, 115, 235, 236, 244, 247, 248, 250, 265
BATNA (Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement), 254, 275, 276, 281, 298,
299
Behavioral indicators, 5, 45, 46, 52, 308
Behavioral science, 1, 3, 4, 10, 17-19, 104, 249
Behavioral symptoms, 142, 174
Behavioral cues, 47, 48, 113
Biderman, Albert D., 33, 98, 132, 139, 311, 316, 317, 323
Bind-strain theory, 110
Body language (see Body movements)
Body movements, 47, 68, 118, 122, 146, 213, 220, 238, 255, 265
Book of Five Rings, 263
Boston Police Department, 142, 144, 212, 214, 217, 228, 230
Boyd, Colonel John, USAF, 253, 257, 258, 263
Brain activation patterns (see Electroencephalography (EEG))
Breaking point, 30, 319, 322
Bush Administration, 320

332

C
Camp 020 (MI-5), 318, 249, 254
Camp David negotiation, 273
Case study, 144, 218, 314
Casual empiricism, 10, 11
Centers of gravity, 104, 247
Chaos, 134, 256, 258
CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), 5, 75, 96, 106, 237, 311, 315, 320, 322
Cialdini, Robert B., 23, 105, 112, 119, 126, 128
Circular logic, 246
CITP (see Criminal Investigator Training Program)
Clash of Civilizations, 244
Classes, 204, 212, 218
Coercion or coercive methods, 9-14, 19, 24-27, 35, 36, 96, 98, 102, 106, 114,
120, 123, 124, 130-133, 136, 137, 149, 174, 200, 201, 221, 222, 264, 306-309,
313, 316, 320-322, 325, 326
Coleman, Daniel, 214-217, 220, 230
Commitment (see also Irrevocable Commitments), 24,25, 36, 54,117, 125, 154,
273, 275, 282, 293, 297, 322
Communications (see also Non-verbal Communication), 13, 19-21, 26, 34, 36,
45, 46, 48, 104, 106, 118, 121, 136, 140, 147, 151, 177, 180, 183-185, 197, 208,
210, 212, 236, 238, 247-250, 255, 279, 280, 313, 323
Compliance, 17, 20, 22, 24, 25, 33, 35-37, 102, 103, 105, 109, 110, 114, 116,
119, 124, 126, 128-131, 137, 191, 196, 313, 316, 317
Confession (see also Oral Confession; Securing the Confession), 5, 6, 18, 39, 74,
99, 100, 110, 111, 118, 142, 144, 145-152, 155-159, 163-175, 183, 186-191, 193,
194, 200-204, 207, 209, 210, 212, 215-217, 220, 222, 224, 225, 227-232, 256,
304, 316, 319, 321
Confidence (see also Interviewer Confidence), 16, 47, 49, 85, 107, 111, 112, 119,
123, 172, 176, 181, 190, 200, 212, 224, 227, 238, 262, 275, 304
Confirmation bias, 304
Confusion, pressure caused by, 29, 129, 134
Consistency (see also Consistency principle and Internal consistency), 24, 36,
171, 185, 253-255, 262
Consistency principle (see also Consistency and Internal consistency), 112, 128
Consultation teams, 249, 261
Contentious tactics, 273
Contingency agreement, 272
Controlled exchange of information, 250, 251
Cooperate, 1, 13,

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Core concerns, 280
Criminal Investigator Training Program, 209-211, 213
Criteria-based content analysis, 48
Culture, 15, 17, 23, 35, 36, 51, 52, 68, 84, 109, 117, 134, 201, 203, 212, 227,
230-232, 243-246, 248, 257, 286, 294, 296, 301, 308, 309, 312, 321, 323
D
Debility, 32, 37, 97, 130, 132, 137, 323, 324
Deceit, 79, 142, 149, 174, 197-199, 212, 216, 220
Deception, 3, 5, 27, 45-53, 63-85, 114, 121-123, 145-148, 175, 184-186, 190,
197-204, 207, 212, 213, 220, 221, 229, 249, 257, 265, 296, 304, 308, 309, 311,
313, 322, 325-327
Decision-making cycles, 257, 258
Deconstructing, 116, 264, 104, 117, 235, 264
Deforest, Orrin, 106, 119
Denials, 5, 22, 142, 145-149, 152, 164, 167-173, 188, 194, 203, 206, 227
Dislocation of expectations, 134
Dividing the pie, 273, 280
Duress (see also Debility)
E
Educement, 1-7, 10, 12, 17-28, 31-39, 46, 119, 128, 133, 139, 140, 235-237, 247,
248, 252, 253, 257, 258, 264-267, 271-275, 282, 285-302, 305-308
EEG (see Electroencephalography (EEG))
EGG (see Electrogastrogram (EGG))
Electroencephalography (EEG), 34, 46, 75, 76, 80, 82, 85
Electrogastrogram (EGG) 64, 66, 67, 82
Emotions, 102, 176, 177, 195, 196, 218, 268, 270, 279280, 286, 298,
ERP (see Event-Related Potential (ERP))
Event-Related Potential (ERP), 75, 76
Expectancy effects, 49
Eye blinks, 64, 66, 67, 69-71, 77, 82
Eye contact, 48, 180, 189, 304
F
Facial expressions (see also Microfacial expressions), 48, 64, 68-70, 82
Fact-gathering, 177
Fatigue (see Debility)
FBI (see Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI))

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Fear, 11, 24, 25, 29, 33, 36, 68, 69, 85, 97, 102, 116, 118, 132, 138, 145, 155,
157, 173, 174, 191, 196-199, 202, 217, 219, 228, 232, 245, 254
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), 75, 142, 144, 184, 204-212, 227-229, 244,
315
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), 142, 144, 206, 208-214,
227-229
Fisher, Roger, 268, 270, 271, 277, 278, 280
Fixations, 64, 69-71, 82
Fixed pie, 268, 272
FLETC (see Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC)),
Flexibility, 100, 106, 109, 182, 258
fMRI (see Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI))
fNIRS (see Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS))
Focus, 49, 100, 110, 112, 252-255, 257, 259, 270-272
Follett, Mary Parker, 267
Foreign language, 15, 101, 110, 117, 134, 200, 236-247, 257, 286, 296, 308, 312,
314, 321
Framing, 112, 143, 268, 276, 277, 280
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), (see Magnetic Resonance
Imaging (MRI))
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS), 80-82
G
Game theory, 268
Gamesmanship, 273, 274
Gaze aversion, 48, 199
Gender, 169, 302
Geneva Convention, 11, 74, 98
Gestures, 47, 48, 69, 118, 140, 260, 304
Getting to YES, 267, 290
Going next door approach, 124, 138
Good cop / bad cop, 29, 195, 196, 295, 302
Great Britain, 142, 144, 204, 220, 221, 223
Guantanamo, 3, 107, 117, 253, 315, 319
H
Harmony, 259, 262
Harvard Negotiation Project, 252, 267, 271
Hawala, 248
Heart rate, 46, 65, 67, 118, 159, 249

335

Heritage speakers, 243
Hinkle, Lawrence E., 137, 139, 316, 318, 324
Hostage negotiation, 268
How-to guides, 174
Human Intelligence (HUMINT), 1, 8, 18, 45, 52, 101-103, 122, 138, 139, 250,
303, 314
HUMINT (see Human Intelligence (HUMINT))
Huntington, Samuel P., 244
I
Initiative, 133, 259, 262, 263
Innocent, 50, 66, 108, 158, 188, 189, 206, 226, 246, 304, 325
Intended outcome, 251-255
Interests, 21-24, 36, 68, 103, 155, 172, 175, 237-239, 252, 255, 267, 270-281,
285-301, 304, 315
Internal consistency, 253-255, 262
Interpersonal intelligence, 101
Interpreters, 52, 108, 237, 247, 260, 312
Interrogation (see Interrogation approaches ; Kinesic Interrogation ; PEACEBritish Interrogation Techniques; Pre-interrogation ; Strategic interrogation ;
and Tactical interrogation)
Interrogation approaches, 6, 9, 142
Intimidation, 10, 11
Intrapersonal intelligence, 101
Ireland, 142, 173, 221, 222
Irrevocable commitments, 275
Isolation, effects of, 97, 135-138, 156, 157, 175, 258, 316, 324
Israel, 12, 15, 53, 144, 204, 231, 239, 267, 277, 311-313
Israel High Court of Justice, 12
Ivan is a dope approach, 126
K
Kinesic analysis and interrogation, 174, 185, 186, 193, 194, 197
Knowing the enemy, 245
Knowledgeability, 99, 103-105, 107, 108, 112, 117, 122, 125, 128, 136, 137, 139,
236, 247, 250
Kreimer, Seth,
KUBARK,

336

L
Language (see also Foreign language) (for Body language see Body
movements), 20, 21, 27, 36, 47, 81, 123, 134, 200
Law of requisite variety, 109, 124, 261
Law of Small Numbers, 304
Legal traveler, 97
Likeability, 23
Lobotomy, 303, 304
Logical appeals, 246
Loudness, 49
M
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), 46, 53, 75, 77-82, 85
Magnetoencephalography (MEG), 75-77, 82
Maximization, 149
McCain Amendment, 13, 328
McCoy, Alfred W., 96, 320
McKersie, Robert, 267, 268, 271, 301
MEG (see Magnetoencephalography (MEG))
Memory, 31, 32, 34, 50, 76, 77, 79, 81, 139, 161, 162, 183, 199, 225, 322, 324,
326
Microfacial expressions, 51
Minimization, 149, 191, 194, 201, 206, 211, 219, 222, 227
Miranda, 163, 165, 166, 169, 171, 216, 219, 325
MIS-Y, 3, 108, 111, 249, 318
Monitoring, 46, 48, 49, 113, 249
Motivation, 22, 24, 25, 28, 29, 31, 32, 34, 36, 50, 52, 79, 85, 97, 101, 102, 125,
146, 157, 198, 202, 204, 206, 207, 227, 228, 275, 277, 289, 297, 301, 314, 317
MRI (see Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI))
Multiple simultaneous offers, 272
Musashi, Miyamoto, 263
Mutual gains, 268-273
N
Narcoanalysis, 64, 73, 82, 83
Negotiation (see also Best Alternatives to a Negotiated Agreement (BATNA);
Camp David negotiation; Harvard Negotiation Project and Hostage negotiation;
Hostage negotiation; and Seven Elements of Negotiation), 4, 6, 20, 36, 103, 108,
233, 237, 252-256, 259, 267-302
Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP), 26, 27, 36

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New York Police Department, 268, 311
NLP (see Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP)),
Nobody loves you approach, 25
Non-coercive method or model, 102, 114, 123, 124, 130, 221, 265
Non-verbal cues or communication, 47, 49, 51, 118, 120, 140, 151, 183-185, 187,
197-199, 205, 207, 211, 212, 238, 304
Non-vocal (see Nonverbal cues or communication)
Nutritional Deprivation (see Debility)
O
Objections, 188, 189, 201, 211
Objective analysis, 305-307
OODA Loop, 258-262
Operational accord, 103, 244
Oral confession (see also Confession), 190, 200
Outcomes, 27, 29, 33, 119, 120, 143, 151, 152, 167, 232, 235, 244, 246, 251-259,
264, 268-272, 277, 279, 289
P
PACE (see Police and Criminal Evidence Act of 1984 (PACE))
Pain, 25, 33, 34, 35, 37, 68, 81, 97, 116, 130, 133, 135, 279, 281, 289, 297, 316,
324, 327, 328
Paradoxical Intention, 30
Paralinguistic cues, 47, 49, 51, 183, 184
Pareto curve, 269, 270, 272, 279
Pauses, 49, 70, 197, 211
PEACE - British interrogation technique, 221, 222
Perception, 15,21,25, 31, 34, 48, 76, 147-151, 158, 174, 196, 200, 227, 236, 286
Perceptual positions, 75, 115, 195, 196, 254, 255
Personality characteristics, 11, 24, 49, 101, 103, 105, 106, 108, 110, 116, 117,
120, 125, 134, 136, 142, 175, 177, 181, 194, 228, 249
Persuasion (see also Subliminal persuasion), 5, 17, 21, 23, 25-28, 35-39, 105,
128, 143, 147, 153, 171, 173, 174, 237, 311, 320, 321
PET (see Positron Emission Tomography (PET))
Physical setting, 97, 110, 119, 135, 255, 258
Pierce, Albert F., Jr., 141, 218-221, 230
Police and Criminal Evidence Act of 1984 (PACE),
Polygraph, 5, 52, 63-68, 71-73, 75, 78, 82-85, 97, 118, 123, 248, 249, 316, 321
Porter, Clifford F., 240-243
Positional bargaining, 268, 271

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Positions (see also Perceptual positions), 20, 21, 25, 95, 107, 164, 254, 255, 268271, 273, 288, 289, 293, 297-300
Positron Emission Tomography (PET), 75, 77, 78, 82
Posture, 47, 69, 112, 116-118, 124, 128, 131, 133, 189, 236, 260
Pre-interrogation, 185
Pressure, 11, 13, 25, 26, 28, 32, 35, 36, 112, 114, 116, 118, 120, 123, 128-133,
136, 150, 151, 156-159, 168, 173, 174, 196, 200, 253, 275, 300, 313
Prisoner’s dilemma, 125, 269
Proficiency, 236-238
Prosecution, 99, 159, 210, 216, 217, 223, 225, 228
Psychological assessment, 105, 125
Psychological set, 97, 104, 105, 119, 135, 255
Psychophysiological measures, 66, 84
Pupillary dilation, 48
Q
question design, 121
R
Radar Vital Signs Monitor (RVSM), 64, 67, 68, 102
Rapidity, 259, 262
Rapport, 22, 26, 27, 102, 112, 114, 120, 121, 135-138, 142, 174, 180-182, 194,
196, 197, 202, 205-212, 215-222, 225-232, 238, 280, 298, 306, 308, 309, 312
Reality monitoring, 48, 49
Reciprocity, 13-15, 24, 36, 122, 222, 294
Recording, 48, 67, 70, 76, 77, 113, 144, 179, 209, 214, 216, 217, 220-229, 249,
250
Regression, 109, 130-132
Regulatory depletion, 30
Reid Model or Technique, 142, 145-148, 155, 157, 164, 174-180, 183-193, 197,
199-206, 210, 215, 219-222, 225, 227, 229, 231, 325
Rejection-then-retreat scenario, 128
Relational identity, 279, 280
Rendition, 3, 319
Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS), 82
Research venues, 6, 303, 309
Reserve component, 241
Resistance, 2, 17, 19, 25, 26, 28-33, 35-37, 52, 95, 98, 99, 110, 112, 114-117,
119, 120, 123-129, 132-134, 138, 145, 149, 158, 168, 171, 180, 204, 236, 246,
256, 261, 274, 279, 296, 298, 301, 302, 308, 312, 313, 316, 317, 322, 323

339

Intelligence Science Board

Educing
Information

Interrogation: Science and Art
Foundations for the Future

Educing Information

Intelligence Science Board
Phase 1 Report

National Defense Intelligence College
PCN 3866

ISBN 1-932946-17-9